Elizabeth Smart<\/strong> is embracing a new chapter: bodybuilding.<\/p>\n More than two decades after being rescued by police following her kidnapping, Smart, 38, revealed in an Instagram<\/a> post on Tuesday, April 21, that she\u2019s competed in multiple bodybuilding competitions.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen 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, \u201dabsolutely not! Never in 100 years!\u201d the mother of three<\/a> captioned the post, which shows her fit physique in a navy blue bikini while she\u2019s on stage posing.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is actually the fourth competition I\u2019ve done, but 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,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n Smart went on to say she had an epiphany this weekend that changed her doubts. \u201cIt struck me how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors. I think it\u2019s easy to be labeled as one thing, and honestly, that\u2019s not me nor do I think it\u2019s any of us,\u201d Smart\u2019s caption continued. \u201cWe are more than just one topic, one idea, one label. 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\u2019t know what tomorrow brings.\u201d<\/p>\n Smart said she doesn\u2019t want to get to the end of her life and reflect with any regrets.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a big change for me, it was hard, it pushed me, challenged me not to give up. I am so proud of myself for doing this. I am so proud of my body, and I want to celebrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n Smart was just 14 years old when she was abducted from her family home<\/a> in Salt Lake City, Utah, in June 2022. She was taken in the middle of the night at knifepoint from Brian David Mitchell<\/strong> and Wanda Barzee<\/strong>. Smart was sexually assaulted by her captors for nine months before she was found alive.<\/p>\n She was rescued in March 2003 and has since gone on to become an advocate for sexual abuse victims<\/a>, working to combat sexual violence thorugh the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which she founded in 2011, according to its website<\/a>. Netflix released the documentary Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart<\/em> this past January.<\/p>\n