From cancer to Olympics, twice, for US beach star

"We really got to put volleyball in perspective after something like that. Volleyball is just a game," Rosenthal said. "Jake is one of my best friends. He's like a brother, and I wouldn't be here without him. To get through something like that and turn around and play like he has is crazy. But I'm glad I'm on his team, 'cause as far I'm concerned, he can beat anything."

Ten days after the surgery, tests showed Gibb was healthy enough to avoid chemotherapy. He and Rosenthal went back onto the international tour, where points for the Olympic rankings are accumulated, and slowly moved up the rankings before passing Nick Lucena and Matt Fuerbringer on the final weekend of qualifying for the second and final spot available to the Americans.

"Finding out that I didn't have to go through chemotherapy was the biggest relief and joy of my life to that point. It opened up my world," Gibb said. "It opened up the Olympics again, it opened up a career — just to keep competing. I feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have my family and friends around me and to play the game I love."