Simone Biles has already picked up three goal medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics and will go for two more on Sunday, but will her biggest fan, husband Jonathan Owens, be in the stands to support her?
Unfortunately, he will not be.
Owens, a safety for the Chicago Bears, was excused from training camp from Monday, July 29 until Saturday, August 3. Despite some flight trouble, he arrived in Paris Tuesday, just in time for him to watch Team USA's women's gymnastics team win gold in the team final and watch Biles win gold in the individual all-around final.
In the letter, Owens said that he was able to lock eyes with Biles before she began the competition, with the pair blowing kisses to one another in a heartfelt ritual prior to the start of the event.
“I got to witness my wife win a gold medal, so it was amazing that I was able to be there to support her. I'll never forget that moment,” he said.
Owens described feeling “overjoyed” after Biles’ victory, and described the experience of holding and wearing her gold medal after the competition wrapped up in Paris. He also discussed his tourist activities in Paris, seeing the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.
Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics
Watch all the action from the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games live on Peacock
He was also asked by the team to share pictures from the events in Paris and thanked Bears fans for their support.
Owens has become a gymnastics fan over the last year. He watched her win the U.S. Classic, the U.S. Championships and the U.S. Olympic trials earlier this year, frequently jotting down his wife's score and the score of other athletes to keep track, all while sitting with Biles' family.
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He noted that while he is nervous for his wife, his nerves come from a place of love.
"Anytime you get nervous it's because you care. It's such a tough sport and she does things that no one else can do so I'm always nervous, praying for her safety and praying for a clear head that she can go out there and continue to do what she does," he said.
The couple was married in the spring of 2023 and have been adjusting to life in the spotlight together.
Owens has been the target of criticism on social media over the last year for comments he's made about the nature of their relationship
Simone Biles was in a fierce battle to the end with Brazil's Rebeca Andrade as they both aimed for gold in the women's gymnastics individual all-around final Thursday -- and it all came down to one last performance.
In the end, Biles came out on top.
Biles and Andrade entered their floor routines, the last event in the women's all-around competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics, separated by less than a point.
Biles sat at 44.065 after a challenging uneven bar routine, while Andrade had 43.899.
Biles stunned with her exceptional showing and narrowly edged out Andrade, who ended with a final score of 57.932 after scoring 14.033 on floor. Biles finished with 59.131 after a whopping 15.066 on floor.
Biles' teammate, Sunisa Lee, the gold medal defending champion from last year, also made the podium in the third spot with a score of 56.465.
Lee's appearance in the event already secured her spot in history as it marked the first time two all-around gold medalists competed against each other in the all-around final.
Biles continued a streak of an American atop the medal stand for a sixth consecutive Olympic title. Carly Patterson won at the 2004 Athens Games, Nastia Liukin at the 2008 Beijing Games, Gabby Douglas at the 2012 London Games, Biles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and Lee at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Remaining women's gymnastics schedule
Balance beam final: Aug. 5
Biles and Lee will find themselves in the same competition yet again in the balance beam final. The two have been trading off highest-scoring beam routines throughout the 2024 season- and this competition is bound to be a nail-biter. Biles took home the bronze medal on the balance beam in both 2016 and 2020. Lee, on the other hand, has not yet medaled in an Olympic balance beam final.
The balance beam final begins at 5:36 a.m. CT on Aug. 5. Streaming begins on E! at 4:45 a.m. CT and at 8:30 a.m. on NBC 5.
Floor exercise final: Aug. 5
The floor exercise final will be the last event of the women’s gymnastics competition this Olympics. Biles and Jordan Chiles have both qualified.
Biles won the floor exercise final at the 2016 Games, but had to pull out of the 2020 Games final, leaving room for Carey to take home gold. Carey missed the final in this year's Olympics after an uncharacteristic fall in qualifiers. It was later revealed she had been battling an illness during the Games.
After Carey's fall, Chiles scored high enough to clinch the second spot in the final. Chiles’ Beyonce-themed floor routine has been a consistent crowd-pleaser throughout the Games so far.
