ELIZABETH Smart, who was abducted from her home in 2002 at the age of 14, unveiled a major transformation on Tuesday.
Smart, 38, shared a photo on Instagram of her toned, bikini-clad body as she stood on stage for a bodybuilding competition.
Smart was kidnapped from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, in June 2002, when she was just 14. The frantic search for her gripped the US.
She was found nine months later after being held captive by Brian David Mitchell, a homeless self-styled prophet.
Smart shared a photo from a bodybuilding competition on Tuesday, acknowledging in the caption that viewers may be surprised to see the transformation.
“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!’”
read more on elizabeth smart
Smart placed first in her category at the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding and fitness competition in Salt Lake City that took place on Friday and Saturday.
The now mother-of-three revealed this was the fourth bodybuilding competition that she has participated in, adding she had yet to share the news due to fear of judgment.
“…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.
“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 said she didn’t want to look back on her life years from now and regret “only living a half-life, not going after all the things I want to do and try.”
“I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it,” she wrote.
“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.
“I refuse to feel embarrassed about trying something new and am embracing my chance at life to the absolute fullest I can.”
A man, later identified as Mitchell, broke into Smart’s home in 2002, holding her at knifepoint in the bedroom she shared with her then nine-year-old sister, Mary Katherine.
He abducted Smart and held her captive for nine months at a remote camp where he tied her up and sexually assaulted her daily.
He threatened to kill her if she ever tried to escape.
Detectives later learned that Mitchell had a relationship with Smart’s family, painting himself as homeless and needing work or cash.
The family had invited him to their home several times to do odd jobs in exchange for money.
Mitchell believed he was in direct communication with God, which Smart ultimately used against him to be freed.
He would take Smart into town alongside his wife, Wanda Barzee who was often present when Mitchell sexually assaulted the girl.
He would force the two to cover their faces. One time they were asked by a homicide detective to lift the masks, but Mitchell argued it was for religious reasons, so the cop left them alone.
“The thought of crying out did cross my mind, but I was 14. I had been extremely abused for months,” Smart later said.
Around six months after her abduction, Mitchell took Smart to San Diego, California, but she convinced him to go back to Salt Lake City.
“I have this feeling. I think we might be supposed to return to Salt Lake,” she remembered telling him.
“And I know God wouldn’t really speak to me, but I know if you were to ask him, he would confirm to you whether or not that was the right path.”
“Because you truly are his servant and you truly are his prophet.”
When they were walking alongside a road in a Salt Lake suburb, they were approached by police who convinced Mitchell and his wife to separate from the girl.
Once Smart was alone with police, she confirmed her identity and returned to her parents.
Smart later revealed in 2020 that she never sat down with her family and had a “tell all” experience with them, as when she came home, she “didn’t want anyone to know what happened.”
“But I don’t think my parents ever heard in detail what happened from my own lips until my court appearance almost a decade later,” she said.
