They stood on their feet and cheered her on during her epic routine, which brings her one step closer to the Paris Olympics next summer.
Simone Biles proved once again that she is like no other in the world of gymnastics at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on June 2 — and her family knew it as they watched from the stands.
As she flipped, vaulted and flew through the air to nab her record-breaking ninth national title, her husband Jonathan Owens and her family were just as excited as her legions of fans.
One video, shared by NBC Sports, showed how Biles, 27, had Owens, her sister Adria, brother Ron, sister-in-law Sammi, niece Ronni, and mom Nellie on the edge of their seats during her jaw-dropping floor routine.
Owens and Adria looked stressed as Simone ran through her routine — which starts with Taylor Swift’s “…Ready For It?” — while Nellie confidently smiled for her daughter throughout. And after Simone nailed it, the group burst into huge grins, and stood up and cheered loudly for the gymnastics G.O.A.T.
Following her championship win, Simone spoke with the media during a press conference and explained why Owens, 28, was writing on a piece of paper as she competed.
“At the last meet Jonathan saw my parents doing it [keeping score] and said ‘where’d you get that? I need one of those.’ Because whenever he learns about something he wants to like, really dive in…so if he’s gonna learn about gymnastics, he’s gonna learn about it. So, that’s what he was doing, keeping score of everybody and adding it up and stuff like that,” she said.
Biles won five medals — including all-around champion — and led the way by a significant margin throughout the championship, which also saw her finish with a dominant two-day total of 119.750 and with golds in every apparatus: floor, vault, beam, and uneven bars. She’s the favorite to make the U.S. Olympic team for the 2024 Paris Games.
Skye Blakely, 19, finished second, nearly six points behind Biles at 113.850. Kayla DiCello, 20, finished third. Suni Lee, 21, and Jordan Chiles, 23, finished fourth and fifth.
If Biles makes the Olympic team at the U.S. team trials, beginning June 27, which is extremely likely, she’ll become the first American woman to make three Olympic gymnastics teams since gold medalist Dominique Dawes.
“I use the phrase ‘aging like fine wine,’” she said after the competition. “It’s just getting better and better. We’ll see. Hopefully we get to ride this out for the rest of the year.”
