Bears safety Jonathan Owens will take some time off from training camp to see his wife, gymnast Simone Biles, compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
“The Bears are granting him a couple of days off from training camp, so he’ll be there, yes,” Biles said this week when asked about Owens’ potential attendance. “For just a short little time. … Anytime we can show up for one another in support, we just get super excited because our schedules don’t align that much. So whenever it does, the both of us need to show up in support.”
The Bears are to open training camp on July 23, just three days before the Olympics’ Opening Ceremony in Paris.
Biles, who is widely one of the greatest gymnasts of all time with seven career Olympic medals, has a qualifying event on July 28 alongside the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, with a subsequent final on July 30. The all-around women’s final will be held Aug. 1, as USA Today reported.
Owens, 28, just signed with the Bears this spring following a one-year stint with the Green Bay Packers. Originally undrafted out of Missouri Western in 2018, the St. Louis native spent four seasons with the Houston Texans from 2019-2022, emerging as a full-time starter to log a career-high 125 tackles in his final year there. He also appeared as a special teams player in Green Bay.
Owens and Biles hadn’t met when she competed in her first Olympics in 2016, and her second Olympics events were closed to spectators because of the pandemic. So this will be Owens’ first chance to see her on her sport’s biggest stage.
Biles and Owens were engaged in 2022 and married in 2023. This year’s Olympic Games will mark the first time they’ve attended a major international competition together.
