Editor’s note: Simone Biles was selected for her third Olympic Games and was a key member of the U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team in Paris.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago Bears are doing Simone Biles a favor.
Biles announced Sunday that the Bears would remove her husband, safety Jonathan Owens, from training camp for a few days so he can watch her compete at the Paris Olympics.
“The Bears are actually giving him a few days off training camp, so he’ll be there,” she said with a smile, “just for a short while.”
Biles and Owens have been dating since 2020 and married last year, but this will be Owens’ first major international competition. Family and friends were not allowed to attend the 2021 Tokyo Olympics due to strict COVID-19 precautions. The 2023 world championships will be Owens’ first competition since Tokyo, taking place from Sept. 30 to Oct. 8, in the middle of the NFL regular season.
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Owens was able to attend all tournaments this summer because they didn’t conflict with his NFL schedule, but he and Biles were hopeful that Owens could work out a deal with the Bears to go to Paris.
Biles and the U.S. women’s team will compete in qualifying rounds on July 28 and the team final on July 30. The women’s individual all-around final, in which Biles is considered the favorite to win gold, will take place on Aug. 1.
The Bears open training camp on July 23, three days before the opening ceremony in Paris. They will play in the Hall of Fame Game on Aug. 1 in Canton, Ohio.
“We’re really excited to be able to cheer each other on whenever we can because our schedules don’t line up that much,” Biles said, “so whenever we can, it’s really important that we can cheer each other on.”
