Simone Biles/Instagram Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens
Jonathan Owens will always be rooting for girlfriend Simone Biles.
While speaking to reporters at a press conference on Thursday, the 26-year-old Houston Texans football player opened up about the emotions he experienced while watching Biles, 24, at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. In addition to winning silver and bronze medals, the gymnast prioritized her mental health and safety by not participating in four out of five individual event finals. She also withdrew from the team all-around final after her first apparatus (vault).
“I was sick for her, just because I can see her face, I kind of know her facial expressions, I can kind of read her lips and kind of know what was going on and kind of what she was telling her coach,” Owens said of watching her at the team final, per ESPN. “I kind of already knew what was going on beforehand, so I was just really hoping she was going to get over it and be able to go out there and perform. So I was sick to my stomach because she wasn’t able to go out there.”
Noting that Biles’ time competing in Tokyo was the longest that the couple had spent away from one another since they began dating, Owens said that he wanted to “be that extra voice” for her and help “keep her positive.”
“She was kind of in a funk when everything wasn’t going right,” he added. “When you’re used to everything going right for so long, and all of a sudden you kind of hit a hiccup in your performance, you kind of get down on yourself, kind of lose confidence.”
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At the Olympics, Biles was without Owens and her family, but her coaches and fellow Team USA gymnasts were by her side throughout her unexpected journey.
In addition to opening up about her mental health in Tokyo, Biles also talked about experiencing the “twisties,” a disorienting condition that causes athletes to lose air awareness and puts their safety at risk when competing.
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Biles missed four out of five individual event finals (all-around, vault, uneven bars and floor) after withdrawing from the team all-around. Teammates Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum rallied around her and they went on to earn silver, while Biles later won the bronze medal in the balance beam.
With her bronze medal, Biles is now tied with Shannon Miller as the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history.
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Continuing to speak about Biles during the press conference, Owens said that despite being an athlete, he could not understand the immense pressure that the gymnast was under.
“It was hard for me to really understand what she was going through because I’m not on that stage and dealing with those pressures and everything,” he said. “But I just try to be as understanding as possible.”
All in all, the NFL safety couldn’t be more proud of Biles, whom he was able to reunite with on Friday after she completed press in New York City the day prior.
“I was so proud of her,” he added. “Just to be able to overcome mentally what was going on. She kind of altered her beam routine, but I was just happy for her.”
To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.