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After Elizabeth Smart revealed her love of bodybuilding, she went on to place first at the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding competition in Salt Lake City.
By Olivia Evans Apr 23, 2026 5:32 PM | Updated 25 seconds ago
Elizabeth Smart Reveals She Is Now a Bodybuilder With Jaw-Dropping Competition Photo
Elizabeth Smart is built for anything.
Days after the activist—who was kidnapped in 2002—revealed her newfound passion for bodybuilding, she won first place in her skill level for the NPC Fit Model category at the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding competition.
Alongside a peek into her latest feat at the Salt Lake City event April 18, the 38-year-old—who shares three children with husband Matthew Gilmour—detailed why she chose to reveal her new hobby.
“I was too afraid to post it before,” Elizabeth wrote in an April 22 Instagram post. “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.”
While Elizabeth has embraced her survivor label, she doesn’t want to be constrained to her experience.
“We are more than just one topic, one idea, one label,” she continued. “I am interested in many things, and as I get older I realize more and more how important it is to make the most of today, we don’t know what tomorrow brings.”
And while Elizabeth has no idea what is next, she knows that bodybuilding is making her feel better today.
“My body has carried me through every worst day, every hellish grueling experience, it’s created and nurtured three beautiful children,” she added. “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.”
Indeed, Elizabeth was only 14 when she went through one of the toughest battles imaginable. At the time, the Elizabeth Smart Foundation founder was kidnapped from her childhood bedroom and held captive for nine months by Brian David Mitchell—who is now serving life in prison for kidnapping and transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity.
Elizabeth Smart/Instagram
Although the mom of three admitted she was “scared of a lot of things” following the experience, she opted to live fearlessly for the sake of herself and other survivors after the trial of Brian concluded in 2011.
“I felt like, if all of this information about what happened to me was gonna be out there, then I wanted it to serve a purpose,” Elizabeth told CNN earlier this year, “which is when I really got into advocacy."
For more on Elizabeth’s kidnapping and how it affected her and her loved ones, keep reading…
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