Simone Biles Defends Letting Jonathan Owens Wear Her Olympic Gold Medal amid Online Criticism: ‘Leave Us Alone’

“Don’t ever make assumptions,” the gymnastics champion warned critics

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens. Photo: Jonathan Owens/Instagram

Simone Biles is once again standing by her man.

The 27-year-old Olympic champion gymnast’s husband Jonathan Owens came under fire again this week after he shared a photo of himself wearing the gold medal Biles and Team USA won at the Paris Olympics.

“Witnessing history every time you step on the mat 😍🔥,” wrote Owens, who posed alongside his wife in the shot posted on July 31. “Congrats baby on becoming the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history!!!! Just wow!!!! 8 of them!!!!! So thankful i was there to see it ❤️🤍💙.”

It was a sweet gesture of support in the eyes of many fans, but some criticized the football star in the comments for posing as if it were his win. Kiera Breaugh even told Owens to “take her medal off” in a video that accumulated 2.1 million views on TikTok.

That didn’t sit well with Biles. Responding to Breaugh in the comments, she explained that Owens wasn’t the only one posing with her award. “Crazy thing is, I put my medal on every single one of my family members and took pictures,” she wrote on Thursday, Aug. 1, adding, “so don’t ever make assumptions. 🙄”

“Like y’all are so f—— miserable,” she continued. “Leave us alone.”

TikTok.

For her part, Breaugh responded to Biles comments in follow-up video shared to TikTok saying that she was “honored to be told to f— off by such a talented woman.”

“She put the medal on him,” Breaugh said. “I can’t really be mad if she told him to,”

“And you know what? Maybe I am miserable. I’ll be called miserable by the most decorated gymnast of all time. I think that’s fine,” she added. “I think in comparison, naturally, I am not just miserable but also lazy, untalented and all the other things int he caption. I am undeniably that in comparison. So I don’t mind. I don’t mind this at all.”

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Jonathan Owens (center) cheering Simone Biles on at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.Christian Petersen/Getty

Owens, 29, and Biles tied the knot on April 22, 2023, at the Harris County Courthouse in Houston. A few weeks later, they hosted a second wedding celebration in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

For every one of Biles’ competitions at the Paris Games, the Chicago Bears safety has been seen in the stands, showing his support by cheering her on and taking notes on her scoring. He’s also worn various T-shirts designed in tribute to Biles.

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“It’s super exciting just because I get a chance to see all the work that she puts in prior to [the Olympics],” Owens told PEOPLE in a July 9 interview. “Everything she goes through and dealing with the media and everything, and she still goes out there and does it.”

“I love watching [it] from an athlete’s perspective because that’s how you’d be great in any sport, is just being consistent and doing the same thing consistently good every day,” he continued. “You know what I mean? I love to watch it and I love to be out there and be a cheerleader.”

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens in Paris during the 2024 Olympics.Simone Biles/Instagram

Simone Biles’ Husband Jonathan Owens Talks Again About Having ‘No Clue’ Who She Was Before They Met

Still, the internet appears keen on reminding Owens of his past words about Biles — specifically his admission that he had “no clue” who Biles was when they first met in March 2020 on the invite-only dating app Raya.

“When she won the Olympics, I was in college, and we didn’t have NBC,” he said on the The Pivot podcast back in December 2023. “We didn’t have Olympics channels, and we were in [training] camp [in] late July, early August. So I’m not paying attention. I never would’ve had a moment where I would’ve watched [her compete].”

He also got flack for claiming in that same interview that he was “the catch” in their relationship.

Biles has openly defending Owens since. “He never said I wasn’t a catch,” she clarified during a April 16 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. “He said he was a catch because he is. I’ve never met a man like him. A lot of people that meet him are like, ‘Oh my gosh. I want a man like that, like Jonathan.’ “

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens.Simone Biles/Instagram

Simone Biles Calls Out Fans for Being ‘Disrespectful to My Husband’ amid Jonathan Owens Criticism

The Ohio native also said the criticism has been hurtful to her. “One night, I broke down, and I’m like, ‘Why are you guys talking about my husband like this?’ Biles admitted, calling her husband “the sweetest guy who will do anything for anybody” in the interview.

Pushing back on the comments that she should divorce him over his remarks, Biles revealed: “That really hurt that they were talking about my husband like that. Because for me, it’s like talk about me all you want, but don’t come for my family.”

Biles’ will next be competing in the individual event finals for vault, balance beam and floor exercise starting Aug. 3.

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