Elizabeth Smart, the kidnapping survivor turned advocate, has taken up bodybuilding and won first place in a recent competition. She shared photos and her story on Instagram, revealing it was her fourth such event. Smart, now 38, celebrated her body after years of advocacy work.
Elizabeth Smart competed at the Wasatch Warrior event in Salt Lake City on Saturday, securing first place in the Fit Model division for entry-level female bodybuilders. In an Instagram post shared Wednesday, she wrote, “When I posted the pictures in my story of me standing on stage in a bikini it probably shocked many of you... 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!’” This marked her first public disclosure of competing, despite having participated in three prior events privately due to fears of judgment impacting her advocacy for survivors. Smart explained, “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. Then this past weekend it struck me how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors.” She cited a desire to avoid regret as motivation, stating she did not 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.” Smart praised her body for enduring hardships, including carrying her through trauma, nurturing three children, and meeting life's challenges, adding, “I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it... I refuse to be ashamed of it.” Smart was kidnapped at 14 from her Salt Lake City home in 2002 by Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee, who held her for nine months, subjecting her to daily rape at Utah campsites. Mitchell serves a life sentence, while Barzee, released in 2018, was rearrested in 2025 for violating sex offender conditions. Since her rescue, Smart founded the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, worked as an ABC News correspondent, and raised a family after marrying in 2012.