Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Danielle Campoamor

Simone Biles and Jonathan Owens Won't Force Their Future Kids to Play Sports

Gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France.

Even though Simone Biles is the most decorated American gymnast of all-time, she apparently has no intention of forcing any future children she may have to follow in her athletic footsteps.

In an exclusive interview with People for the publication's latest issue, Biles' husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, says the couple are not going to "force anything" on their future kids when it comes to sports.

"If that's what they want to do, I'm not going to try to force anything on them," Owens told the publication. "Obviously they're going to know what their parents did, so that'll be just something cool for them to look at and for us to be able to relive those stories and memories with them."

Owens went on to say that his wife and gymnastics GOAT is "big on taking pictures" and that the pair will "have stuff framed up" for their future children.

"But honestly, whatever they want to do, I'll just support them 100%," he added. "I don't want to force 'em and make it feel like, 'You have to do this because we did.' That doesn't generally work out for kids."

When asked if the pair plan on having kids, Owens gave a succinct, matter-of-fact response.

"In the future, man," he said. "For sure."

Biles gave a similar response on Tuesday, Aug. 6, during an interview with TODAY.

"Me and Jonathan always talk about kids," Biles revealed. "He would have them, like, yesterday if he could have. Obviously we both have goals that we want to achieve before we start a family, but yes: that's definitely in our future."

Biles went on to tell TODAY co-host Hoda Kotb that she "most definitely" can see herself one day becoming a mom.

In a 2023 interview ahead of her "redemption tour" comeback during the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, Biles opened up about her eventually realizing that there is a life outside gymnastics and beyond the tumbling mat—one that clearly includes marriage and, potentially, motherhood.

“There’s so much more in life than gymnastics,” Biles said at the time. “I love what I do. But, at the end of the day, yes, I am a gymnast. I’m really good at what I do.

"But I won’t be doing gymnastics forever," she continued. "And there’s still things to look forward to past gymnastics where before I never thought so. It’s just always gymnastics. So, now it’s just a part of what I do. And it doesn’t really define who I am as much anymore.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.