Elizabeth Smart says her first body building competition was terrifying, but now she feels liberated

By Updated on: May 4, 2026 / 10:07 AM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google Elizabeth Smart, who survived abduction and sexual abuse as a teenager and went on to become a child safety advocate, said her first body building competition was terrifying as she stood on stage in a bikini, but that she now feels liberated."I grew up always just being so modest. I don't think I wore a bikini until I was on my honeymoon," Smart told "CBS Mornings" co-host Gayle King on Monday. "So stepping up on stage in a bikini felt like the most vulnerable thing I could possibly do. I was shaking."Smart recently posted a photo of herself in a body building competition, where she placed first in her category. She said it was her fourth competition and that revealing her participation in the shows probably shocked many of her followers. She said on Monday she feels "almost liberated to a degree, because I think for so long I wanted to be taken seriously, I wanted whatever I had to say [to] matter, I wanted to feel like I was respected.""And I also feel like through doing this and putting this post