Is Simone Biles' husband Jonathan Owens at Paris Olympics?

Editor’s note: Simone Biles has won Olympic gold in the team final, all-around final and vault final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Simone Biles has been a very visible presence at husband Jonathan Owens' NFL games. Now it's his turn to lead the cheering section.

The NFL safety arrived at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday morning, hours before the team final. He'll also be here for the all-around final, despite the Chicago Bears being in the middle of training camp. Biles said after the Olympic trials that the Bears had given Owens permission to be absent for "a couple of days" so he could go to Paris.

"He'll be there, yes," she said. "For just a short little time."

Biles and the U.S. women's gymnastics team came to Paris as heavy favorites for gold and their performance in qualifying only reinforced that. They finished more than five points ahead of second-place Italy, and posted the highest score on vault, balance beam and floor exercise.

Biles had the highest individual score, nearly two points better than Rebeca Andrade of Brazil. The all-around final, where Biles is heavily favored to become just the third woman to win a second Olympic title, is Aug. 1.

Here are more details.

Is Jonathan Owens in Paris?

He's here! Owens landed in Paris on Tuesday morning, hours before the team final. He'd posted a photo of himself on a plane to his Instagram story Monday night, with the caption, "Coming for you baby." About 10 hours later, another photo of a street scene with the "Paris, France" location tag.

The Bars gave Owens off July 29 to Aug. 3, which includes their first preseason game: Aug. 1 against the Houston Texans, Owens' old team. That means in addition to the team final, Owens will be able to watch Biles in the all-around final on Thursday, Aug. 1.

Owens said he asked the Bears for the time off when he was negotiating his contract with them in the spring. It wasn't a hard sell. While this is Owens' first season with the Bears, it's his seventh in the NFL and many teams rest their veterans for some or all preseason games, anyway. The team is recording all meetings for Owens and sending him defensive installs so he can keep up while he's gone.

"We respect the Olympics. That’s a big deal," Bears coach Matt Eberflus said on July 22. "He’s supporting the one he loves the most. I think that’s so cool that he gets to do that, we welcome that and it’s going to be awesome.

"Go USA," Eberflus said, drawing laughter.

Owens will miss Biles in the event finals, which are Aug. 3-5. She qualified for the vault final, which is Aug. 3, along with the balance beam and floor exercise finals Aug. 5. Biles is the reigning world champion on beam and floor exercise, and won an Olympic gold medal on vault at the Rio Games in 2016.

Has Jonathan Owens seen Simone Biles compete before?

Owens was a fixture at Biles' competitions this summer, attending the U.S. Classic, U.S. championships and Olympic trials. He was even seen keeping score at nationals, which Biles said he picked up from her parents.

“My Mom and Dad — (meet organizers) never used to display scores from everybody, so they would take notes and scores of every athlete. At the last meet, Jonathan saw my parents doing it and he was like, `Where’d you get that? I need one of those!’ Because whenever he learns about something, he wants to really dive in,” Biles said after the U.S. championships in June.

“He’s kind of a nerd in that respect. In the best way!” she added. “So if he’s gonna learn about gymnastics, he’s gonna learn about it.”

This will be the first time Owens sees Biles compete internationally, however. The couple met in March 2020, and friends and family were not allowed at the delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 because of severe COVID protocols. Biles did not compete again internationally until last year's world championships, which occurred in late September and early October, during the NFL's regular season.

Does Simone Biles go to Jonathan Owens' NFL games?

As many as she can.

Biles and Owens met when he was with her hometown Houston Texans, so it was relatively easy for her to at least get to his home games. (She does not typically train on Sundays.) When she was taking time off after Tokyo, she would also go to occasional road games.

It got a little more difficult last season, when Owens was with the Green Bay Packers. With no direct flights, Green Bay is an almost five-hour trip from Houston — and that's if there are no weather delays!

Still, after she cleaned up at worlds, where she won her sixth all-around title and led the U.S. women to gold, Biles got to as many games as she could. She also traveled to some away games.

"Anytime we can show up for one another in support, we just get super excited because our schedules don't align that much," Biles said. "So whenever it does, it's really important for the both of us to show up in support."

Does Simone Biles have other family members cheering her on in Paris?

Yes. Lots of them. Biles' mother, Nellie, said there will be 16 people in their cheering section in Paris.

Biles' parents, Ron and Nellie Biles, are famous for never having missed one of their daughter's meets. (Tokyo doesn't count. They didn't have a choice.) They're usually joined by Biles' younger sister, Adria, and one or both of her older brothers, Ron Jr. and Adam.

The youngest member of Biles' cheering section is Ronni, her adorable, 18-month-old niece. The daughter of Ron Biles Jr. and his wife, Sammi, Ronni often wears replicas of her aunt's leotards.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Simone Biles' husband at Olympics? When to spot Jonathan Owens