Jake Gibb’s bid to become the oldest beach volleyball player to compete in the Olympics may have just been stopped short.
NBC4 News in Los Angeles reported late Tuesday that Taylor Crabb, Gibb’s playing partner, has tested positive for COVID-19. NBC4 reported Crabb tested positive while in Tokyo.
USA Volleyball said in a statement that an athlete tested positive upon arrival in Japan and had been moved to a hotel. USA Volleyball did not name the player.
Taylor’s brother, Trevor Crabb, also a professional beach volleyball player who narrowly missed joining his brother in Tokyo, confirmed to NBC4 that his brother has the disease. He said the situation is “terrible” and that, according to NBC4, Taylor is “fine and healthy and should be allowed to play in my personal opinion.”
Gibb, 45, a Bountiful native and Utah graduate, had planned to retire after the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro — his third Games — until he partnered with Crabb. They were the first of two American men’s teams to qualify for Tokyo. The other USA pair is Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena.
This isn’t necessarily the end of the road for Gibb, however. A representative of USA Volleyball told the Tribune in an email that “there is protocol for an alternate athlete that we are working through.”
The news comes a day after University of Utah gymnastics commit Kara Eaker, an alternate on the USA Gymnastics squad, became the first American to test positive for the coronavirus disease in Tokyo. A USA tennis player tested positive on July 18 while still in the United States.
Eaker’s father, Mark Eaker, appeared on NBC’s Today show Tuesday morning and said she still has no symptoms and feels fine. She will not, however, be able to complete her quarantine in time to compete in Tokyo.
“She’s positive and upbeat and looking forward to getting home and getting off to college,” he said.
Correction • July 23, 9:20 p.m.: This story has been updated to correct where Gibb attended college.
