Despite owning four Olympic gold medals and 19 World Championship gold medals, elite gymnast Simone Biles told the audience of The Today Show on Friday that her new 3-carat oval-cut diamond engagement ring from fiancé Jonathan Owens beats them all.
In a remote Zoom-style interview between The Today Show hosts in New York and the newly engaged couple in Texas, Carson Daly asked Biles how her new gold compares to all of her medals.
“You have so much gold, Simone,” he said jokingly. “The ring that you have now, does it match all the hardware that you have? The gold, the silver, does it clash?”
Without missing a beat, the 24-year-old put it all into perspective.
“It’s definitely my most prized possession now and I’m always wearing it,” she declared. “It definitely beats a gold medal.”
She went on to admit that she had to consult a higher source about whether she should ever take the ring off.
Biles explained, “I was washing my hair the other day and I took it off, just in case — I didn’t know if it was gonna get caught or anything — and I have to ask my mom, ‘When do you take it off, do you ever take it off?’ and stuff like that. But it definitely beats a gold medal.”
Owens confessed that he knew Biles was “the one” barely a month into their relationship. His feelings were affirmed by an unlikely source — his bulldog, Zeus.
“My dog really loved her,” he said with a big smile. “I could kind of see his face like whenever I would pick my bookbag up in my apartment, he would think we’re leaving to go to her place, so he would sprint to the front door. And I’d be like, ‘Huh, you really like her!'”
The process of picking the perfect diamond ring started back in December, according to the 26-year-old Houston Texans free safety.
Houston-based designer ZoFrost described the center stone as a 3-carat diamond with F color and VVS2 clarity. The center stone is prong-set on a three-row, micro-pavé diamond band, and a special touch recommended by Owens was to add a halo around the diamond.
Biles had a hunch that Owens would pop the question in 2022, but last Monday’s proposal caught her by surprise.
“I thought it might happen this year, but definitely not on Valentine’s Day,” she said. “So that’s why it was such a shock. The way he set everything up was just so seamless.”
Last Tuesday, the seven-time Olympic medal winner announced the big news on her Instagram account with a series of proposal photos and a caption that read, “THE EASIEST YES. I can’t wait to spend forever & ever with you, you’re everything I dreamed of and more! let’s get married FIANCÉ.”
Credits: Screen captures via Youtube.com / TODAY. Ring image via Instagram.com / simonebiles.