Simone Biles’ husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens, has been criticised by fans for wearing her Olympic gold medal in a loving photo on Instagram.
Biles helped the United States to its first gymnastics gold at the Paris Games on Tuesday, when it beat Italy and Brazil in the team final with an impressive winning score of 171.296.
It is the United States’ first win at the event since 2008, with athletes including Sunisa Lee and Jordan Chiles also inspiring them to the historic victory in the French capital.
For Biles, though, the gold medal triumph marks a return to the top of the sport for a gymnast considered by many to be the greatest of all time, and there could well be more to come in the all-around, vault, balance beam and floor exercises.
However, following her first success in Paris, fans were left in an uproar on social media after Owens – Biles’ husband of the past two years – was spotted proudly wearing her medal on Tuesday night.
Simone Biles’ husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens, has been criticized by fans for wearing her Olympic gold medal
In a post paying tribute to his wife, the Chicago Bears safety posed alongside her with the gold around his neck and wrote: “You witness history every time you step on the mat. Congrats babe on becoming the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history! Just wow!!! …
Owens will be away from Paris Biles this summer after being granted time off from Bears practices to watch Biles in action.
She showed her appreciation for him by commenting: “It means a lot that you’re here.”
But despite his moving words, Owens has been criticised by fans online for his “strange” behaviour while wearing the medal.
One wrote: ‘You do realise that’s not your medal… right?’
Another said: “But why are you wearing this? How weird.”
“I knew he would wear his medal like he earned it,” said a third user.
A fourth commented: ‘That gold medal you’re holding in your hands is Simone’s, not yours my friend.’
Biles led the United States to its first gold medal at the Paris Games in the team all-around final on Tuesday.
Owens, who is in Paris to watch Biles in action, celebrated his wife while wearing her medal in a touching Instagram post.
But fans were quick to criticize the Chicago Bears safety’s “strange” behavior in the comments.
While one simply told her: ‘Give me back the medal, darling, that’s not yours.’
But Owens didn’t just receive criticism for his medal-wearing antics.
Fans were also quick to reference an infamous 2023 interview in which he claimed he didn’t know who Biles was when they first met on a dating app.
Insisting that he is the attractive one in the relationship, Owens had this to say about their initial meeting: “At the time I didn’t know who she was, but the first thing I saw was that she had a ton of followers on Instagram. So I thought, ‘Okay, she’s got to be good.'”
And the footballer recalled those comments after taking home his wife’s Olympic gold medal this week.
One user said: “But you didn’t know who she was, did you?”
Another wrote: “Do you know who she is now? LOL.”
While a third posted: “Now he knows about gymnastics.”