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The long and short of it
A gym manager told Maja Lukic mid-workout that her shorts were too short
By MEGAN PALIN
A DARWIN gym boss has told
a client she belongs in a strip
club and needs to wear longer
shorts if she wants to work
out at his gym again.
Physiotherapist Maja Lukic, 25, said that she was
wearing a pair of Puma gym
shorts and a tank top last
Thursday when she was stopped by a manager midworkout and told her outfit
was unacceptable at Snap
Fitness Yarrawonga.
Snap Fitness Yarrawonga
owner Griff Davies told the
NT News that Ms Lukic’s
I go to work out, not
to get attention, but
to feel good about
myself
gym shorts belonged in a
strip club.
‘‘If (Ms Lukic) wants to
dress in that length of shorts
and show her private parts,
that’s her business, she can
take it down to Sinsations and
Honeypot,’’ Mr Davies said.
‘‘We have a standard that
we set across all our gyms and
have to protect the interests
of different shapes and sizes
and religious groups because
our gym is for everyone.
‘‘You’ve got to be a little bit
flexible and smart about it.’’
Mr Davies said there was a
simple way to determine if an
item of clothing was too short
to wear in his gym.
‘‘When someone stands up
to reach up and grab the pulldown machine and shows
their private parts, it’s too
short,’’ he said.
Picture: HELEN ORR
Mr Davies said the club’s
dress code also meant clients
could not wear crop tops or
expose their torsos.
He said the rules and regulations applied to Snap Fitness clubs throughout Australia and the world.
‘‘Some idiots try coming in
wearing no shirts even after
they’ve been told to cover
up,’’ Mr Davies said.
‘‘Our gym has 16 to 60-yearolds and we have a duty
to protect their interests
as well.’’
Ms Lukic said she was initially approached by a female manager who told her
there had been ‘‘lots of complaints’’ from other clients
and ‘‘higher managers’’ about
her shorts.
‘‘She said they were offensive and too short and that
they had a 5-star policy to uphold,’’ Ms Lukic said.
‘‘I just laughed and said
‘that’s a first’, I’ve worn these
shorts at gyms in Sydney,
Brisbane and Darwin and
never had a problem, they’re
just normal gym shorts.’’
Ms Lukic said there were
other clients in the gym
wearing shorts the same
length as hers.
‘‘Some of them were bag-
gier, but I was just wearing
what I was comfortable in,’’
Ms Lukic said.
‘‘I go to work out, not to get
attention, but to feel good
about myself. I’m the type to
laugh about what happened
but a lot of my friends said
they would have cried if they
were in my situation.’’
But Ms Lukic said the
owner’s comments were
‘‘uncalled-for’’.
‘‘Gym is my happy ‘go-to’
place so if that’s what they
think I guess that just
won’t be the gym for me,
there’s plenty of good gyms
out there.’’
Dog mauls NT child on holidays
large mixed-breed dog yesterday morning.
Police were told the girl had
been visiting relatives in
Rydalmere, in Sydney’s west,
for the past two weeks and
was playing in the backyard
with family when attacked.
She was treated on the spot
by paramedics before being
taken to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
The dog owners voluntarily surrendered the animal to Parramatta City
Council rangers and investigations into whether it is a
banned breed continue.
Two hurt in motorbike prangs
Ants are bugging Top Enders
ST JOHN’S Ambulance paramedics attended two separate motorbike accidents in
Darwin yesterday.
St John’s Ambulance spokesman Craig Garraway said
a man, 58, hit a wallaby while
riding his motorbike at Belyuen about 10.30am.
‘‘He was treated at a
medical clinic in Belyuen
THEY are tiny but they pack
a big punch.
Nasty
little
gingercoloured ants have been invading Top End bathrooms.
The NT News is aware of
two cases in which people
have been bitten on the face
in the past two weeks.
Royal Darwin Hospital
executive director of nursing
www.ntnews.com.au
and then we met them
and brought him into Royal
Darwin Hospital,’’ Mr Garraway said.
‘‘He had a shoulder injury
and a broken finger.’’
Later in the day a boy, 14,
broke his wrist and a leg
when he came off his
motorbike at Acacia Hills
about 4.30pm.
PUB:
A DARWIN kindy student has
been mauled by a pet dog
while holidaying in Sydney.
The five-year-old girl’s left
cheek was severely wounded
when she was bitten by a
Jo Seiler said ant bites cause
pain, itching and swelling.
‘‘Applying ice to the bite
may help to reduce pain,’’
she said.
Medical entomologist Nina
Kurucz suspects the little
pests are pharaoh ants.
‘‘They may be coming inside more during the Wet,’’
she said.
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Monday, January 6, 2014. NT NEWS.
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