Simone Biles has defended her husband Jonathan Owens following criticism that he should not have worn one of her Olympic gold medals. Notably, Ms Biles has already taken home three gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She currently holds ten Olympic medals, seven of which are gold. Mr Owens shared a picture of himself and the Olympian on Instagram, following the US women's gymnastics team's victory in the all-around competition. In the now-viral photo, he is seen holding the medal and wearing it around his neck. Many people criticised and slammed him for wearing the medal.
"Witnessing history every time you step on the mat. Congrats baby on becoming the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history!!!! Just wow!!!! 8 of them!!!!! So thankful i was there to see it, "the Chicago Bears football player captioned the photo.
A person commented, "Why he holding it like he won it?" "Give the medal back bby thats not yours," added another user. "God he just keeps making it worse for himself," remarked another.
Others complimented Ms Biles and her football star husband for coming to Paris to encourage her, given that he is currently preparing for the upcoming season with the Chicago Bears.
Amid this, the 27-year-old gymnast responded to critics of her husband on a fan's TikTok, as per a report in the Independent. "Crazy thing is, I put my medal on every single one of my family members and took pictures," she wrote. "So don't ever make assumptions. Like y'all are so f****** miserable. Leave us alone."
However, Mr Owens has previously been slammed for his remark about their bond. The controversy began in 2023 when Mr Owens claimed that, when they first met on the elite dating service Raya in 2020, he had no idea who Ms Biles was. Notably, she along with her teammates Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian had already competed in the Rio Olympics in 2016 by that point. "I just hadn't heard of her, and when I told her that, that's one of the things she liked," he said.
In April, Ms Biles revealed to Alex Cooper on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast that while she was amused by the internet response to her husband's remarks, she was also very offended by them. She said, "I thought it was hilarious at first, and then they hurt my feelings. And then one night, I broke down and I'm like: 'Why are you guys talking about my husband like this? Like, you don't know him. You don't know who he is. And if anybody's met him, they know he's the sweetest guy and will do anything for anybody.'"
"Because for me, it's like: 'Talk about me all you want, but don't come for my family, never.' Because I've been in the limelight long enough where I can brush things off, have my little powwow about it," she explained.
