Even Elizabeth Smart’s fellow bodybuilding competitors didn’t see her transformation coming.
“We competed in the same class. I actually had no idea it was her,” participant Lila Cowdell, 23, exclusively told Us Weekly. “She held herself very tall and she’s very humble.”
Smart, 38, competed in the Wasatch Warrior fitness competition on April 17 and April 18 in Salt Lake City, Utah alongside newcomer Cowdell, who took home third place and Smart second in the Fit Model D category. Smart also placed first in the Fit Model Novice category and third in Fit Model Masters 35+.
Smart, who entered the competition under her married name, later revealed via Instagram that she feared being judged as “unworthy to continue work as an advocate for all survivors.” (She has been married to Matthew Gilmour, with whom she shares three children, since 2012.)
Smart made national headlines after being kidnapped in 2002 when she was 14 years old. During her nine months of captivity before a police rescue, Smart said she endured physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
Smart has since worked as an advocate for fellow survivors of domestic violence, writing two memoirs and sharing her story in the Kidnapped documentary before beginning her bodybuilding pursuit. Smart’s participation in the fitness contest subsequently raised eyebrows after she posted photos on social media, revealing her dramatic transformation.
Cowdell admires her courage for sharing her fitness journey so publicly.
“I was frustrated with the backlash she was getting online,” Cowdell told Us. “She is getting quite a bit of hate and doesn’t deserve to be a victim. This is a sport that people work so hard for and it takes a lot of discipline and strength for a normal person let alone someone who has gone through such trauma and pain.”
She continued, “I applaud her for taking back her body and presenting it with such confidence. There is a lot of support for her as well.”
Fellow competitor Jimmy Rex was also in awe of Smart taking the stage.
“I just thought it was really cool,” Rex told Us in a separate interview. “I met her once, like, a year after her rescue at a game night in Provo, [Utah] years ago. I just thought it was really cool, and I know how much like doing the show helps you, just for self confidence. The one time I met her before, she was super confident. … I remember thinking how badass that was, yeah, and so, it didn’t surprise me that she said she was her. I thought of that experience. I was like, ‘Man, what a cool chick.’”
Neither Cowdell nor Rex approached Smart during the competition.
“I didn’t want to bother her, because, I’ll be honest, I didn’t want people coming up to me while I’m [in] prep,” Rex explained. “It’s actually really chaotic [backstage]. … You got these people running around telling you what to do, but it’s pretty chaotic. I, kind of, just kept to myself and let her have her moment.”
Cowdell also kept her distance but couldn’t help but notice how composed Smart was onstage.
“It’s so empowering for her to go through such a hard thing and show her confidence and build the mental game that bodybuilding requires,” Cowdell said. “You have to have such a strong mental game and be able to have that discipline. It’s a very impressive thing to step on that stage. I would say not everyone can do it.”
She added, “I just hope she knows even just the thought of prepping for bodybuilding competitions is super impressive and the people giving her the hate could never even go through what it takes.”
Rex was equally impressed by Smart’s confidence and, similarly to Cowdell, couldn’t understand the level of negativity directed at her.
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“People like to make opinions about you, and they’ve never met you, and I had a handful of haters too,” Rex told Us. “The truth is, when you see somebody like Elizabeth Smart [doing] that, you react one of two ways. You either say, ‘I need to make that person wrong,’ or you [have] to change yourself because you don’t feel good about yourself. You either realize you have to look inward, or you just try to make the other person wrong.”
He continued, “What they do is they spew that hate at Elizabeth, instead of looking at themselves and saying, ‘You’re either inspired by it or you make it wrong so that you don’t have to look at your own weakness or your own faults.’ I think that’s why she got that hate.”
Cowdell also added that Smart’s resilience is inspiring, telling Us, “I just hope she knows even just the thought of prepping for bodybuilding competitions is super impressive and the people giving her the hate could never even go through what it takes.”
