Simone Biles Says Jonathan Owens Wedding ‘Topped’ Her 1st Olympics Win

Simone Biles accomplished her wildest dreams at her first-ever Olympics in 2016, but her wedding to Jonathan Owens immediately surpassed that.

“I’ve never had so much fun in my life,” Biles, 26, told Vanity Fair of her May 2023 nuptials in a cover story that debuted on Wednesday, January 10. “I was 19 when I won my first Olympics, and I was like, ‘How am I supposed to top this?’ My wedding topped it. It was the greatest feeling ever.”

The gymnast won gold several times at her first Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and she now has 37 Olympic and World Championship medals — more than any other athlete ever. Despite Biles’ success, Owens, 28, still claims he didn’t know who she was when he matched with her on the dating app Raya in 2020.

“A lot of people don’t believe me when I say I had no clue,” he insisted to VF. “I never once was like, ‘Oh, let me check gymnastics out.’” Once he found her Instagram profile, he noticed Biles has millions of fans. “I was like, ‘Man, she got a lot of followers, she must be pretty good,'” he added.

Related: Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens’ Relationship Timeline

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens are a match made in world-class athlete heaven. The Olympic gold medalist and the NFL player, who was then a Houston Texans safety, met via the dating app Raya in March 2020. “I didn’t know who she was,” Owens told Texas Monthly in June 2021. “I just hadn’t heard of […]

Owens is a safety for the Green Bay Packers, and he recently went viral for some controversial statements comparing himself to his wife.

“I always say that the men are the catch,” Owens said in a December 2023 episode of “The Pivot” podcast. “She did [pull me], though, because I was fighting it. … At the time, I was afraid to commit. I was like, ‘This is my third year [in the NFL], I’m trying … it’s kind of early,’ but, you know, it happens when you least expect it.”

Biles was present during the podcast taping and laughed off his remarks. At the end of the recording, Biles noted that “in a few years” she would be more well-known as “Jonathan Owens’ wife” than he is now as “Simone Biles’ husband.” (Biles lists “wife [to Jonathan Owens]” as the first entry on her Instagram bio ahead of her career highlights.)

Related: Olympic Athletes: Where Are They Now?

Making it to the Olympics is a feat that countless athletes dream of their entire lives. After years of blood, sweat and tears, participating in the most prestigious athletic event in the world is a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Some athletes compete one time in the Olympic Games and hang up their hats, stepping gracefully into retirement. […]

While social media ripped into Owens, Biles didn’t seem concerned by his comments. “Are y’all done yet?” Biles wrote via X (formerly Twitter) in December 2023 alongside a meme of a child scratching its head in confusion.

That same day, her interview on Peacock’s 2023 Back That Year Up was released, and she revealed that she and her husband argue about their athletic abilities. Kenan Thompson, who cohosted with Kevin Hart, asked, “Who is the better athlete in the house?”

“I think we’re good at our own sports,” Biles replied. “We’ve tried to pin each other against [one another] on, like, difficulty, ability and all that stuff. So, at the end of the day, gymnastics is harder — if he agrees or not.”

Thompson quipped, “That’s a nice politician answer, but here’s the truth. I know your name, that’s all I’m going to say. I know your name.”