Elizabeth Smart Feels Liberated After Bodybuilding Win in Bikini Competition

Elizabeth Smart, who survived abduction and sexual abuse as a teenager and became a child safety advocate, said her first bodybuilding competition terrified her as she stood on stage in a bikini. But 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 from the competition, where she placed first in her category. She said it was her fourth such event and that revealing her participation likely shocked many followers.

On Monday, she said 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 matter, I wanted to feel like I was respected."

"And I also feel like through doing this and putting this post out there, I feel liberated because I can be more than just one thing," she said. "I can be a body builder. I can feel beautiful or sexy, and I can still be an advocate for women and children against sexual violence."

Smart called her turn to bodybuilding "a celebration" of her body, which has carried her "through every worst day, every bad experience."

She noted that she has three children, adding, "It's still carried me through life, and I'm so grateful to my body for bringing me to where I am today."