Jonathan Owens has shown off his support for his wife, Simone Biles — even from across the ocean.
Biles competed in Paris on Sunday July 28 for the Women’s Qualification in gymnastics where she powered through a calf injury to earn an all-around total score of 59.566, with the American team scoring a 172.296. Despite earning permission from his coach for the Chicago Bears safety to miss practice for his wife’s Olympics performance, Owens was not in attendance in-person in Paris just yet.
Instead, Owens took to his Instagram stories to show his support for his wife while she competed. He first wrote, “We locked in” on text across the screen as the introduction for Team USA played.
The NFL player also showed off various clips of Biles including one of her on the beam as he wrote “Flawless” across the screen and a clip of her on the vault as he wrote “no words.”
“Let’s gooooooo!!!!!” Owens wrote alongside a video of her strong vault, and of Snoop Dogg showing off a T-shirt with his wife’s face on it.
His last Instagram story regarding the Olympics showed Biles after she finished her uneven bars routine with text across the screen that read, “Let’s go baby!”
Last week, Owens revealed that he had worked with his coach, Matt Eberflus, to make sure that he would be able to support his wife in-person but he is not able to leave until Monday July 29. The women’s team final begins July 30 — and then individual events are in the following days.
“Obviously the Olympics were coming up and you know who my wife is,” he told Yahoo! Sports at the time. “It was all respectful. We went to them and asked, ‘We’d really appreciate if he could go to support his wife.’”
“I can’t wait to be able to support her,” he continued. “It’s the person you love most, man, and you see them out there in a position where someone could get hurt and you care. I’m just holding my breath and I have my little piece of paper right there ready calculating everything so I can’t wait.”
Owens added, “It’s always super nerve-wracking.”
Eberflus, echoed a similar statement during a press conference. “Just because we respect the Olympics,” Eberflus said, according to ESPN. “That is a big deal. And he’s just supporting the one he loves the most. And I think that’s so cool that he gets to do that.”
The coach supported Owens’ decision, adding, “We welcome that and it’s going to be awesome. Go USA.”
Biles showed her appreciation for her husband with a birthday tribute for him earlier this week on Instagram.
The gymnast shared various photos of the two of them together as she wished him a happy 29th birthday.
“Happy happy birthday to my husband, best friend, confidant and party goer,” she wrote. “Thanks for being the calm to my storm! I love you with all my heart and I can’t wait to see what this year brings! let’s do it big baby. wish I was there to celebrate you, but I’ll see you soon!!! XO,” her caption concluded, noting that Owens would eventually be alongside her in Paris.
