WATCH: When Simone Biles defeated then-boyfriend Jonathan Owens in rope climbing challenge
Simone Biles and her husband Jonathan Owens are a sporting power couple, but the competitiveness that comes with being an athlete often spills over into their relationship. In one such incident a couple of years ago, Biles challenged her then-boyfriend to a rope climbing race.
The gymnast started dating Owens in March of 2020. The duo went public a couple of months later and have since given fans plenty of insights into their relationship.
In June of 2021, when Simone Biles was getting ready to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, she released a Facebook Watch special, titled “Simone vs Herself.” It gave fans a look into the American's life on and off the mat.
It was in the third episode of the seven-part series that Biles challenged her beau to see who could climb a rope faster. In the clip, the two can be heard deciding the stakes for the race, as they eventually settle on the loser shelling out $50 to the winner.
As the race begins, Owens starts out leading, but the gymnast soon catches up with him and reaches the top in a mere 10 seconds, with her husband still a few feet below her.
The clip shows the NFL player defending his loss saying, “Well, I had you about 3/ 4th of the way, then I just burnt out.” Biles giggled in response.
Here is a video of the battle between the two:
Simone Biles on who's the better athlete between her and Jonathan Owens
Simone Biles believes that she's the better athlete of the two. Recently, the Olympic gold medalist was invited to the Back That Year Up podcast, which is hosted by Kenan Thompson and Kevin Hart. The 26-year-old was asked who is the better athlete between her and her husband Jonathan Owens.
“I think we’re good at our own sports. We’ve tried to pin each other against on, like, difficulty, ability, and all that stuff. So, at the end of the day, gymnastics is harder — if he agrees or not,” she said.
Simone Biles added that she was the better athlete between the two, given that Owens was barely able to keep up with her workout while she aced the NFL training.
"We fought over it a couple of times, and then we vowed once we got married, we wouldn’t talk about it again. But it keeps coming up every time, but he has done my workout in the gym and he can barely do it, and then I went to their NFL workout and I crushed it.”