Distance doesn’t stop Simone Biles and husband Jonathan Owens from cheering on each other.
As Biles made her return to competitive gymnastics on Saturday following her struggles at the 2020 Olympics, Owens — a safety on the Green Bay Packers — sprinted to the locker room at Lambeau Field to see how she did.
“I text her right after, because I knew her phone was probably blowing up,” Owens, 28, said, according to ESPN.
“I just told her to call me whenever she gets a moment. So I didn’t get to really FaceTime her until around 11, but she was excited.”
Owens, who was first linked to Biles in 2020, added how they “stayed up until about 3 in the morning just on the phone, just talking and reliving the moment.”
“I know it felt like a dream to her so I was super excited for her,” he said.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist won the all-around, balance beam, floor and vault titles at the Core Hydration Classic in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
“Everything has fallen into place,” Biles, 26, said after the win, according to ESPN.
“I feel really good about where I am right now, mentally and physically. There are some things to work on in my routines, but for the first meet back, I would say it went pretty well. I’m very shocked and surprised.”
Biles pulled out of multiple events at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo after suffering a bout of the “twisties,” which can cause a gymnast to lose a sense of where they are in the air and could possibly lead to a dangerous landing.
Both Biles and Owens are looking ahead to their next chapters as athletes and husband and wife.
The pair swapped vows in a lavish destination wedding in May.
A short time later, Owens signed with the Packers after four seasons with the Texans.
He posted career-best numbers last season, logging 125 tackles, four passes defended and a sack.
Biles has been a support system for her husband as Owens competes for the starting safety position alongside Darnell Savage in Green Bay’s secondary.
“She was excited for me, man,” Owens said. “That’s the crazy thing. She was texting me before, giving me a bunch of encouragement. I was excited for her too, so it was good for everybody.”
Read more
