Simone Biles won her first Gold of the 2024 Olympics, but it was made all the sweeter as her husband, Jonathan Owens, traveled across the world to see her do what she does best.
The Chicago Bears football star took to Instagram to share a photo of himself from the plane, captioned: "Coming for you baby" with a blue heart emoji and a plane emoji as he threw up a peace sign casually.
© GettySimone re-shared the photo to her story with a number of fingers crossed emojis as well as emotional watery-eyed ones too, as if words couldn't express how excited she was to have him watch her perform on the world stage.
Her husband saw her perform as the final athlete on the day; she ended her routine with a full-twisting front flip through to a double-double, before following it up with her original namesake skill, a double layout with a half twist.
© @simonebiles reposting @jowens InstagramShe performed another double layout to finish, and despite falling outside of the floor lines twice the score was high enough to overtake Team GB, who had been sitting in third place.
Their total was 171.296, a solid six points above second place finishers Italy; Brazil came third winning its first Olympic medal in the sport ever.
Jonathan wasn't expected to watch Simone at the Olympics, as training camp begins for the next NFL season.
As she shared birthday wishes with her husband, who turned 29 on July 22, Simone said that she wished she "was there to celebrate you, but I’ll see you soon!!! XO".
© LIONEL BONAVENTUREFortunately, the Bears safety was allowed excused absences from July 29 to August 3, so that he could go watch his wife compete in the international event.
His coach, Matt Eberflus, told ESPN that he was allowing Jonathan's absence "just because we respect the Olympics."
"That is a big deal, and he's just supporting the one he loves the most," the coach said. "And I think that's so cool that he gets to do that. We welcome that and it's going to be awesome. Go U.S.A."
STAR REELS
Jonathan's trip across to Paris will only be fleeting, as he is expected to return to practice on August 4. But there is no doubt that Simone will appreciate his presence, along with her 17 other family members, including her sister Adria and parents Ronald and Nellie.
© InstagramSimone's 2024 Olympics so far
There are high expectations for Simone, who paced through the qualifiers with an incredible lead of 59.566, contributing to her team's impressive first place score of 172.296. The star competed with a noticeable limp, as she was reportedly experiencing pain in her calf, but it didn't stop her from ranking first in three of the four categories.
© Getty ImagesMany commented on Simone's absence from Team U.S.A during the opening ceremony, as she could not be spotted on the huge boat going down the Seine, introducing the team's impressive 592-person squad.
It turned out there was a good reason for them to skip the rainy ceremony, as per professional advice the entire gymnastics team were told to skip the event due to the length of it.
"The first competition is this Sunday," her mom Nellie shared to NBC News' Hoda Kotb and Snoop Dogg, "which is the Women's Qualifier. And, of course, she needs to rest up before that competition."
