Elizabeth Smart feels “excited” and “liberated” after entering and winning a bodybuilding competition.
The kidnapping survivor opened up about her surprising bodybuilding journey during a visit to “CBS Mornings” on Monday.
“I feel good. I feel excited,” Smart, 38, told host Gayle King. “I feel almost liberated to a degree because I think for so long I wanted to be taken seriously, I wanted whatever I had to say to matter, I wanted to feel like I was respected.”
She continued, “And I also feel like, by doing this and putting this post out there, I feel liberated because I can be more than just one thing. I can be a bodybuilder. I can feel beautiful and sexy. And I can still be an advocate for women and children against sexual violence.”
But Smart, who described her pivot into bodybuilding as a “celebration” of her body, also acknowledged that she initially felt “vulnerable” and “terrified” standing on a stage in only a bikini.
“I grew up always just being so modest. I don’t think I wore a bikini until I was on my honeymoon,” she told King. “So stepping up on stage in a bikini felt like the most vulnerable thing I could possibly do. I was shaking.”
Smart ultimately won her division in the contest, her fourth competition total, last month.
The child safety advocate took to Instagram on April 21 to celebrate her win while explaining why she had kept her bodybuilding journey a secret for so long.
“I think it’s easy to be labeled as one thing, and honestly, that’s not me nor do I think it’s any of us, we are more than just one topic, one idea, one label,” Smart wrote alongside a photo of herself mid-competition.
“I am interested in many things, and as I get older, I realize more and more how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings,” she continued.
The ABC News commentator then celebrated herself and her body.
“I am so proud of myself for doing this,” Smart shared. “I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it.”
She added, “My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children, my body has risen to every single challenge life has presented it with, and carried me through so I refuse to be ashamed of it.”
Smart made national headlines in June 2002 when, at the age of 14, she was abducted at knifepoint from her family’s home in Salt Lake City.
She was rescued by police officers nine months later, in March 2003, on a public street 18 miles from her home.
Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, were subsequently arrested for Smart’s abduction.
Barzee pled guilty to assisting in the kidnapping in November 2009, while Mitchell was sentenced to two life terms in federal prison on kidnapping and sexual assault charges in May 2011.
Following Smart’s rescue, she became an outspoken activist and advocate for missing persons and sex abuse victims.
She met her husband, Matthew Gilmour, in 2009, and the pair tied the knot in Hawaii in February 2012.
The couple has since welcomed three kids: Chloe, 11, James, 9, and Olivia, 7.
“I only hope that we all find the courage to chase new experiences, goals, bettering ourselves, and most importantly happiness,” Smart concluded her moving Instagram post last month.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
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