Elizabeth Smart says her first body building competition was terrifying, but now she feels liberated

Elizabeth Smartwho survived abduction and sexual abuse as a teen and went on to turn into a toddler security advocate, stated her first body building competition was terrifying as she stood on stage in a bikini, but that she now feels liberated.

“I grew up always just being so modest. I don’t think I wore a bikini until I was on my honeymoon,” Smart advised “CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King on Monday. “So stepping up on stage in a bikini felt like the most vulnerable thing I could possibly do. I was shaking.”

Smart not too long ago posted a photo of herself in a body building competition, the place she positioned first in her class. She stated it was her fourth competition and that revealing her participation within the exhibits most likely shocked a lot of her followers.

She stated on Monday she feels “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.”

“And I also feel like through doing this and putting this post out there, I feel liberated because I can be more than just one thing,” she stated. “I can be a body builder. I can feel beautiful or sexy, and I can still be an advocate for women and children against sexual violence.”

Smart described her pivot into body building as “a celebration” of her body, which she has carried her “through every worst day, every bad experience.”

She additionally famous that she has three youngsters, including, “It’s still carried me through life, and I’m so grateful to my body for bringing me to where I am today.”

smart She was 14 years outdated when she was kidnapped from her bed room in 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was discovered 9 months later, and about 18 miles away from her dwelling, with her abductors.