GIBB Jacob

Previous teammates
Matt Olson, Sean Rosenthal, Stein Metzger, Ty Loomis, Adam Jewell, Mike Daniel (bvbinfo.com, 15 Jul 2016)

General
PARTNER
He began playing with teammate Taylor Crabb in 2017. He is 16 years older than Crabb. "I think we're the same in that we're both laid back and have similar family upbringings and values. That goes a long way, to both have strong parents with a strong relationship. A partnership is an intimate thing because I end up spending more time with him than my wife over the summer. In that way, we're very similar. The age thing is real, but even with that, I have kids, so we don't talk about kids' soccer practice. I just see it as we have more similarities than differences." (volleyballmag.com, 03 Jun 2019; fivb.com, 09 Mar 2020)

RETIREMENT PLAN
After the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed to 2021, he decided to delay his retirement by a year. "I have a fixed date, I'm done after 2021. I was going to be done after this year [2020], but now I'm going to play one more year. I can't just leave Taylor high and dry. And I get to play in the sport I love for one more year. [Winning an Olympic medal] would obviously be huge. It would be just one of the biggest moments of my career. It's something I'm pushing for, for sure." (insidethegames.biz, 30 May 2020; ocregister.com, 02 May 2019; volleyballmag.com, 22 Aug 2018)

CANCER
In December 2010 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, which was determined from a US Anti-Doping Agency [USADA] drug test. The cancer was removed with surgery and no further treatment was necessary. He also suffered from skin cancer in 2004, and has a scar on his left shoulder as a result of treatment. (teamusa.org, 01 Jan 2020)

NAME
He and his five brothers have the middle name Spiker, which is his mother's maiden name. (nbcolympics.com, 18 Jun 2012; teamusa.org, 01 Jan 2020)

In November 2019, at age 43 years and 284 days, he became the oldest beach volleyball player of either gender to win a World Tour event, when he triumphed alongside Taylor Crabb in Chetumal, Mexico. (fivb.com, 18 Nov 2019; volleyball.world, 17 Nov 2019)