Gabrielle Reece Biography
Gabrielle Reece : Gabrielle Reece's Biography
Gabrielle Reece was born on January 6, 1970 in La Jolla, California,
and spent her early years living on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. By
the age of 7, Gabrielle Reece had already reached five feet in height.
After relocating to St. Petersburg, Florida, Gabby began playing
volleyball at the high school level. Gabrielle Reece earned an athletics
scholarship to Florida State University in 1987, and majored in
Communications.
Gabrielle Reece competed in volleyball as a Lady Seminole from 1987 to
1990, where Gabrielle Reece set season records for solo and total
blocks, and earned several All-Tournament honors. In Gabrielle Reece's
junior year, Reece was named Most Inspiring Collegiate Athlete in the
country, and was inducted into Florida State's Athletic Hall of Fame.
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In early 1989, Gabrielle
Reece began modeling for the Ford Agency of New York, and before
year's end, was selected by Elle magazine as one of the five most
beautiful women in the world. Gabrielle Reece would go on to grace the
covers of magazines such as Harper's Bazaar, LIFE and Women's Sports &
Fitness, though volleyball always took precedence over everything else,
no matter how lucrative.
In 1993, Gabrielle Reece became Nike's first ever female cross-training
spokesperson, appearing alongside Bo Jackson in TV ads. That same year,
Gabrielle Reece began competing in the four-person Bud Light Pro Beach
Volleyball League, leading in blocks during her first season, and kills
Gabrielle Reece's first four. Gabrielle Reece became captain of team
Nike in 1994, and was named the League's Offensive Player of the Year
for two consecutive seasons.
Gabrielle Reece hosted
segments of MTV Sports from 1993-1996, as well as The Extremists (1995),
where Gabrielle Reece got to try her hand at a variety of high energy
activities including drag racing, white-water kayaking, and skydiving.
From 1994 through '95, Gabrielle Reece wrote a sports and fitness column
for Elle magazine. Following Gabrielle Reece's fifth and final season
with the Bud Light League in 1997, Gabrielle Reece co-authored Big Girl
in the Middle with Karen Karbo, which chronicles her triumphs and
defeats as a top female pro athlete. Gabrielle Reece made a cameo
appearance as a fitness trainer in Gattaca (1997), and began
contributing a regular column to Women's Sports & Fitness. That
November, Gabrielle Reece married extreme surfer Laird Hamilton.
Gabrielle Reece switched to competing in the two-person Federation of
International Volleyball circuit in 1999, and posted back-to-back thirds
with partner Holly McPeak during their first season together. In 2000,
6'3" Gabrielle Reece graced the cover and interior pages of Play..boy.
Gabrielle Reece has recently been working on improving her golf swing,
and trained with coach Claude Harmon in the hopes of eventually
qualifying for the LPGA. Gabrielle Reece became the first woman to
compete at the American Century Pro Celebrity Golf Tournament in 2002.
Gabrielle Reece landed another career as a reporter in November,
covering golf for USA Sports, including the 2003 PGA Tour.