The child safety advocate whose abduction at age 14 made national headlines said she’s “proud of my body” that has “carried me through every worst day.”

Elizabeth Smart opens up about surprise bodybuilding pivot: ‘I refuse to be ashamed’

The child safety advocate whose abduction at age 14 made national headlines said she's "proud of my body" that has "carried me through every worst day."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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on April 21, 2026 8:31 p.m. ET

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Elizabeth Smart on 'America's Most Wanted'. Credit:

- Elizabeth Smart is sharing a first look at her newfound bodybuilding journey.

- "I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it," the child safety advocate wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

- The survivor of a nine-month abduction when she was 14 began to pursue bodybuilding after realizing "how important it is to make the most of today, we don't know what tomorrow brings."

Elizabeth Smart just competed in her fourth bodybuilding competition. But you probably didn't know that.

The media personality and child safety advocate, whose abduction from her home at age 14 made national headlines, took to Instagram on Tuesday to address the "shock" some of her 327,000 followers may have felt to see pictures she recently shared showing off her ripped physique.

"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!'" she explained.

Smart noted that her participation in the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding and fitness competition in Salt Lake City over the weekend actually counts as her fourth competition. "But I was too afraid to post it before. Worried that I would be judged, not taken seriously, somehow perceived as less than or now unworthy to continue work as an advocate for all survivors," she said.

That stops now.

Elizabeth Smart at the 2018 Gracie Awards.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

"Then this past weekend it struck me how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors. 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 continued.

The 38-year-old mother of three shared her recent realization about "how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings. And I don't want to reach the end of my life and look back and feel regret for only living a half-life, not going after all the things I want to do and try."

To that end, she celebrated this "big change for me, it was hard, it pushed me, challenged me not to give up. I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it. 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."

Joseph Baena, son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, wins first bodybuilding competition

Where is Elizabeth Smart now? Inside the life of Netflix's 'Kidnapped' subject decades after her abduction

Smart became a subject of national concern on June 5, 2002, when a man broke into her family's Salt Lake City home and abducted her at knifepoint.

She remained the attacker's captive for nine months, during which she was subjected to near-constant attacks, assaults, rape, and humiliation. Smart was finally rescued by authorities on March 12, 2003.

Smart has since become a fierce advocate for child safety, telling her story in various venues, as in the 2017 Lifetime film *I Am Elizabeth Smart*, which she narrated, and in the 2013 memoir *My Story*. She married Matthew Gilmour in 2012, and the couple shares three children — Chloé, James, and Olivia.

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