Elizabeth Smart is embracing her body with enthusiasm. Although the activist was admittedly hesitant to share pictures of herself competing in a bodybuilding competition last month, she said the "heartwarming" response from her followers affirmed the reason she ultimately let the world in on her newest hobby. "I can be sexy, and I can be an advocate. I am more than just one thing," Elizabeth told Us Weekly in an interview published on May 20th. "I understand why I was scared to share, but those are the same exact reasons why victims don't share."
The 38-year-old added, "I [decided] I should do this because it's empowering for me, but also maybe it's empowering for other victims to be like, 'If Elizabeth Smart can step up on stage in a bikini, I can go report to the police.'"
While Elizabeth, who was abducted in 2002 and subjected to physical and sexual abuse by her captors before her rescue nine months later, recognizes the confidence that her bodybuilding gives others, she admitted that the exercise also has "a vanity aspect to it" after realizing that her other hobby of long-distance running was taking a toll on her body.
"I had been running for a long time, and I loved it. But one of my knees was starting to hurt," she explained. "And on the weekends, when I did my [marathon] training runs, it got to a point where they were just so long that once I finished them, I didn’t want to do anything the rest of the day."
However, her and husband Matthew Gilmour's kids Chloe, 11, James, 9, and Olivia, 7, kept her from staying put. As she described it, "I've got three little kids who don’t want to just lie on the sofa and eat chips." Plus, bodybuilding has given Elizabeth more agency over her own body.
"I always felt like there was a way I needed to present myself," she said. "Bodybuilding has helped free me." And among the surprises she's found along her journey, she's discovered "how incredible the human body actually is."
"I had three kids, I’ve done so much running, can my body still change?" Elizabeth asked herself. "And to see it happen, wow, it really can."
