Elizabeth Smart has an unexpected new hobby, xrust reported. The 38-year-old children's rights activist posted a photo of herself competing in a bodybuilding competition on April 21.
“When I posted pictures of me on stage in a bikini on my stories, it probably shocked a lot of you, and I understand how you feel because if you had asked me a couple of years ago if I would ever compete in a bodybuilding competition, I would have said, “Absolutely not!” Never in my life!” — she signed her photo. The photo shows her on stage at the Wasatch Warrior bodybuilding and fitness competition, which took place April 17-18 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Smart said this was her fourth bodybuilding competition, but admitted: “I was too afraid to post this before. I was afraid that I would be judged, not taken seriously, somehow perceived as inferior or unworthy of continuing to work as an advocate for all survivors of violence.”
To be clear, for nine months, when she was kidnapped at age 14, Smart was subjected to daily rape, physical abuse and starvation. She was reunited with her family in March 2003 after she was found by authorities on the streets of Utah. Now she is fighting for the safety of children.
She compared her feelings about sharing her new fitness hobby to the trauma of being kidnapped, writing: “It struck me over the weekend how eerily familiar these feelings and thoughts are for too many survivors. I think it's easy to be pigeonholed by one word, but honestly, that's not about me, and I don't think it's about any of us. We are more than just a theme, an idea or a label.”
Bodybuilding, she wrote, “was a big change for me, it was hard, it pushed me, it made me not give up. I'm so proud of myself for doing this. I'm so proud of my body and I want to celebrate that. My body has supported me through every worst day, through every hellish, grueling ordeal, it has created and raised three beautiful children, my body has handled every challenge life has thrown at it and supported me, so I refuse to be ashamed of it. I refuse to be shy about trying something new and take my chance at life to the fullest. I just hope that we can all find the courage to strive for new experiences, goals, self-improvement and, most importantly, happiness.”
She continued by thanking everyone who supported her along the way, including her coach Robin Maher, who wrote in her stories that Smart is “the strongest person I know. A wonderful mother, an example for all women, kind-hearted, sincere, modest, compassionate, loving, and also cool. Yes, you can be ALL of these things at once.”
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Xrust 38-year-old Elizabeth Smart shocked fans with a photo from a bodybuilding competition
