Simone Biles had husband Jonathan Owens to cheer her on as she competed in the U.S. Core Hydration Classic on Saturday, May 18.
Owens, 28, looked on from the bleachers during Biles’, 27, vault performance at the Core Hydration Classic in Hartford, her first meet of the season following her Gymnastics Camp debut. The NFL player, who currently plays for the Chicago Bears, seemed to hold his breath as his wife hurtled through the air in a Yurchenko double-pike vault, jumping to his feet in applause when she landed.
“Jonathan Owens LOVED Simone Biles’ vault performance. ❤️,” read the caption of a video shared via Instagram by the NBC Olympics on Saturday.
This maneuver earned Biles the highest score of the night, per NBC News. Along with stellar performances on the balance beam, floor and uneven bars, Biles secured herself the all-around title for the meet.
“I was just happy to be back out there,” Biles said on Peacock’s broadcast of the meet. “As long as we’re there cheering each other on and hoping for the best and having confidence in each other’s gymnastics, then it’s going to work.”
Owens’ support for Biles comes after the football player made headlines in December 2023 for saying he was the “catch” in their relationship on an episode of “The Pivot” podcast. He further sparked controversy when he admitted he didn’t know who Biles was when they first matched on the dating app Raya in 2020.
“I didn’t think anything of that interview, and he never said I wasn’t a catch. He said he was a catch. Because he is,” Biles said on the April 17 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I’ve never met a man like him. A lot of people that meet him are like, ‘Oh my gosh, I want a man like that, like Jonathan.’”
Biles noted that she was largely unfazed by Owens’ comments at the time. “I was in the room. I was sitting on the chair. You just couldn’t see me on the videos. I was there for the whole entire video,” she recalled. “I was feeling great. I was like, ‘My man just killed that.’ They even panned over to me with that viral moment, and I just rolled my eyes and laughed.”
Biles and Owens tied the knot in April 2023 after two years of dating. Biles, who is the most decorated gymnast in history with a total of 37 Olympic and World Championship medals, admitted that the backlash “really hurt” after a while.
“He praises the ground that I walk on. Truly, I’ve never met a man like him. He still opens my doors,” she told “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper. “I’m not saying that to be like, ‘He still opens my doors because that’s to be expected of men,’ but he truly goes out of his way to do anything for me.”
She added, “If anybody’s met him, they know he’s the sweetest guy and will do anything for anybody.”
