Watching from afar! Gymnast Simone Biles’ boyfriend, Jonathan Owens, stayed up all night to watch her during the Tokyo Olympics during the early hours of Sunday, July 25.
At 1:13 a.m., the football player, 26, shared a video via Instagram Stories that showed Simone, 24, in her Team U.S.A. uniform during the Olympic qualifying rounds for gymnastics.
“Almost that time,” the Houston Texans safety wrote with a fingers crossed emoji to caption a post from Gymnastics Now calling Simone the “greatest of all time.” Due to coronavirus concerns, spectators, including friends and families of the athletes, were not allowed to attend the Olympics.
It’s clear the athletic duo are head over heels for each other. The Ohio native is competing for a gold medal during the Games, but she still took a moment to gush over her beau for his birthday on July 21.
“Here in Japan, it is already my favorite persons birthday. HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY BABE. @jowens_3, I love you so much,” Simone wrote via Instagram along with seven adorable photos. “Can’t wait to celebrate you when I get home! Thanks for keeping me sane during the craziest times. An ear to vent to, someone to share fun times with and make the best of memories. Not sure how I got so lucky [and] what I’d do without you! But I hope you have the best day ever. Not too much fun without me [though] hahaha. Forever yours, S.”
She added that she was “obsessed” with the athlete in a separate post. Simone and Jonathan took their romance Instagram official in August 2020 just five months after her split from Stacey Ervin Jr., whom she dated for nearly three years.
“He’s a real man. I love him. We have a great time together,” the Houston resident said about Jonathan during a virtual Today show interview in January 2021. “Our personalities match right up. We have the same sense of humor. He’s just great. He’s an athlete, too, so we really understand each other, and I think that’s why our relationship has been seamless.”
Surprisingly, the St. Louis native didn’t exactly know Simone’s level of fame during the early days of their relationship. “Her work ethic was really the first thing that caught my eye,” he admitted during episode three of the gold medal winner’s Facebook Watch series, Simone vs. Herself. “I never really watched gymnastics before I first started talking to her. When I met her, I honestly didn’t know who she was.”
He added, “It was just like, ‘Oh, she has a lot of followers — she must be pretty good or something.’ That’s how I would tell people and they’d be like: ‘Simone Biles?! You for real, the gymnast?!’ And I’m like, ‘Man, she’s good like that?!’”