Gymnastics star Simone Biles is engaged to Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens.

The couple, who met shortly before the coronavirus pandemic, announced the news via their social media pages on Tuesday.

"Woke up a fiance," Biles tweeted. "I can't wait to spend forever and ever with you, you're everything I dreamed of and more!"

In January last year, Owens said the enforced shutdown of sport caused by COVID-19 allowed him and Biles to spend time getting to know one another.

"It was one of the few times in her life where everything was just shut off and she couldn't do anything," he told Texas Monthly. "So we used it to get to know each other - really get to know each other. It created our bond and made it stronger. Now I'm so thankful."

Biles, 24, is a four-time Olympic gold medallist and is regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts in the history of the sport.

She holds a record 25 world championship medals, 19 of which are gold, and is the only female gymnast with five world all-around titles.

At the Tokyo Olympics last year, Biles withdrew from four individual events for which she had qualified after pulling out of the women's team competition after just one rotation.

The United States star cited the need to focus on her mental health as she chose not to contest the individual all-round, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise finals.

Biles returned for the balance beam final, winning bronze, after which she described her pride in bringing greater attention to mental health concerns.

Owens, 26, was signed by the Texans after spending a year with the Arizona Cardinals. He played seven times in the NFL last season.