Elizabeth Smart on 'terrifying' bodybuilding debut, is 'proud' of journey

Elizabeth Smart shed some light on her bodybuilding journey in a new interview with CBS News, calling it "terrifying" but also gratifying.

The former child abduction survivor revealed in an Instagram photo posted Tuesday, April 21, that she has begun competing in bodybuilding competitions.

Smart acknowledged the shocking transformation in her caption.

"When I posted the pictures in my story of me standing on stage in a bikini it probably shocked many of you, and I understand the shock because had you asked me if I would ever compete in a bodybuilding show a couple of years ago I would have said, 'absolutely not! Never in 100 years!'" Smart, 38, wrote.

Smart told "CBS Mornings" host Gayle King on May 4 she'd been training for marathons for awhile when her knees began to bother her. A trainer (and current coach) reached out to her and asked her if she'd be interested in working out together again, and Smart said she was looking for a goal to help motivate her. She told her coach she wanted to try body building.

"It was terrifying," Smart added of standing in a bikini at her first bodybuilding competition. "It was absolutely terrifying." Her modest upbringing didn't prepare her for the showmanship of the sport.

"I don't think I wore a bikini until I was on my honeymoon," she said, "so stepping up on stage and a bikini felt like the most vulnerable thing I could possibly do. I was shaking. I had these beautiful long mermaid hair extensions in that I'd never worn before in my life. And you have all this big jewelry on, and you go through this whole posing routine, and there's a point where you flick your hair back over your shoulder, and I hadn't ever practiced it with like the long hair and the big jewelry, and my ring got stuck in my hair on stage, and so I just had to rip it out."

She connected the experience to her career as a child safety advocate. "In my line of work, I've met so many victims of sexual abuse and violence who feel like their body betrayed them, and we see a lot of self-harm, eating disorders, like feelings of self-loathing, loathing their body," she said. "And for me doing this, I feel like it has been a celebration of my body, because it has carried me through every worst day, every bad experience."

"I shouldn't be ashamed that I've taken care of (my body) and work to build it strong," she added. "And I'm very proud of myself."

It's been liberating for her. "For so long, I wanted to be taken seriously," she said. "I wanted whatever I had to say matter like I wanted to feel like I was respected. And I also feel like, through doing this and like 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 or sexy, and I can still be an advocate for women and children against sexual violence."

Smart's kidnapping case is one of the most publicized in American history. At 14, she was abducted from her Salt Lake City, Utah, home in June 2002. She spent nine "harrowing" months in captivity, where she was sexually abused by Brian David Mitchell – a man her family previously hired to do "odd jobs" – before she was rescued. Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, his then-wife and accomplice, were captured by law enforcement shortly after.

Mitchell was found guilty of kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines "with intent to engage in sexual activity." He is currently serving a life sentence in prison. Barzee pleaded guilty in 2009 but was released in 2018. Barzee was arrested again in 2025 after visiting multiple parks, which is a violation of her status as a sex offender.

Since her rescue, Smart created the Elizabeth Smart Foundation and written about her experience. She lives in Utah with her husband and three children.

"I only hope that we all find the courage to chase new experiences, goals, bettering ourselves, and most importantly happiness," she wrote.

Contributing: Taijuan Moorman and Amaris Encinas