Simone Biles Opens Up About ‘Forbidden Olympics Closet’ in Her Home Where She Cried Over 2020 Gear

Simone Biles is opening the doors to her “forbidden” closet.

In her Jan. 2 cover story for Sports Illustrated, the Olympian — who the outlet named its 2024 Sportsperson of the Year — revealed that she has a “forbidden Olympics closet” in her home with husband Jonathan Owens,

The “closet,” she explained, is actually an infrequently used guest room, which the couple has turned into a designated space for the Olympic gear Biles has from the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where she famously withdrew from competition.

Sometimes, when her NFL player husband, 29, was away from home, she would pull out some of the items, such as leotards and Team USA pins, and cry, she told Sports Illustrated. 

“I never wanted to see him see me at my weakest point,” Biles said of Owens, who she shares “put in so much effort and he showed so much support and love.”

“I didn’t want him to think it wasn’t working,” she explained.

Biles, the most decorated gymnast of all time, dropped out of the 2020 Olympics due to her experience with “twisties” — and the related mental health issues she faced — before making her big comeback at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she pushed through a calf injury to win gold in the team, all-around and vault finals, plus a silver in floor.

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When she wasn’t training for her history-making return at the Paris Games, she was working on her and Owens’ in-progress waterfront mansion  — and sharing glimpses of the construction with her fans.

Biles has been taking her followers along for the home-building ride since September 2023, when she first revealed that the athletes — who had tied the knot just a few months earlier — were building a house together.

Most recently, the Olympian shared a look at the home’s pool, garage, kitchen and laundry room.

“Updating y’all on my bye week from tour,” the gymnast wrote on Instagram Stories in October, sharing photos of the construction progress.

Biles and Owens’ in-ground pool, which overlooks a lake, already has a foundation laid out and a three-car garage is also in the works on their property, the photos revealed. Inside the home, meanwhile, the kitchen boasts a gorgeous black-and-white marble countertop and sleek white cabinetry.