Jake Gibb and his beach volleyball partner, Sean Rosenthal made it to the quarterfinals in the 2012 Olympics. Although it must be extremely disappointing to come so far and walk away without a medal, Gibb, who received a diagnosis of testicular cancer not even two years ago and survived a bout of skin cancer several years ago wasn’t even sure he was going to make it to the Olympics. (To Jake and Sean: you are a tribute to the United States and we are proud of you!)

Jake Gibb didn’t grow up on the beaches of California playing volleyball. He was born in Utah and throughout high school, at 6’ 2”, a big fan of the Utah Jazz, he had his sights set on playing basketball, until he was cut from his high school team in his senior year. That same year, he joined a recreational beach volleyball league and although he had thought of it as a girl’s sport, he found he liked the game. During the two years following high school, Gibb grew 4 more inches and played volleyball in his back yard, with his twin brother.

He started playing beach volleyball regularly when he was 21, certainly much later than most players he faces in tournaments and the Olympics. In 2000, Gibb competed in some Association of Volleyball Professional (AVP) events. During his first full time season with the AVP, he was ranked 19^th and continued moving up in the ranks – by 2005 he was ranked 1^st and was named AVP’s Most Valuable Player.

In 2006, Gibb teamed up with his current partner, Sean Rosenthal and together they made it to the Olympics in 2008 and again this year. But the journey has been tough. In late 2010, Gibb was suspended for abnormal levels of alpha fetoprotein and beta-hCG in his blood, substances that can indicate steroid use. But it wasn’t steroid use causing the problem – it was testicular cancer.

Facing surgery and a regimen of chemotherapy, it looked like any possibility of making it to the 2012 Olympics was gone. But Gibb’s surgery got all of the cancer and chemotherapy was not necessary – giving him the chance to continue playing volleyball, winning the FIVB World Tour Grand Slam in London and securing a spot in the Olympics.

You can watch the video of Jake’s story on his website: JakeGibb.com

What is Testicular Cancer?

Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 35. It is more common in white males than in African-American or Asian –American men.  It starts in the testicles and can spread to other parts of the body. Although the cause of testicular cancer is not known, there are some risk factors which may increase your chances of developing this type of cancer:

• Abnormal testicle development
• History or family history of testicular cancer
• History of undescended testicle
• Klinefelter syndrome
• Exposure to certain chemicals or the HIV infection

There are two types of testicular cancer. Seminoma is a slow growing cancer which usually remains in the testes but can spread to lymph nodes. Nonseminoma is a faster growing form of the cancer and is the more common type.