Simone Biles revealed she gets quite mean to Jonathan Owens when she prepares to compete in gymnastics as the 11-time Olympic gold medallist explains her competitive streak after being named Sports Illustrated’s 2024 Sportsperson of the Year.
The 27-year-old had narrowly missed out on Female Athlete of the Year by the same organization as it went to the WNBA’s Caitlin Clark, but now collects this prize to celebrate her highly successful 2024 Olympic Games.
And part of being a high-performance athlete competing in an intense sport is dealing with pressure, something she has managed throughout her lengthy career, but sometimes it comes at a cost to those around her.
The woman from Houston explained how part of her training cycle means she eventually becomes quite harsh to her husband, the Chicago Bears’ Jonathan Owens, as she locks in on refining her balance and leaps. “I’m being mean to him,” Biles told Sports Illustrated on January 2. “My mom says I’m mean on meet days.”
Biles hid gymnastics pressure from husband
Biles met Owens in August 2020 around the time that the Olympics in Tokyo were cancelled, and that decision to postpone the tournament due to Covid-19 eventually put the Team USA member in a predicament. As she began to struggle with the ‘twisties’ and her mental health, to the point where she lost her sense or air awareness and pulled out of the competition in 2021, she admitted to hiding her problems from her partner.
Selflessly, she said she didn’t want to let him down after his support in their first year of dating so she held in her emotions until she would be alone when he would leave their home or the room. “I never wanted to see him [Owens] see me at my weakest point,” Biles added to Sports Illustrated. “He put in so much effort and he showed so much support and love. “I didn’t want him to think it wasn’t working.”
