Do like Olympians

The flashmob was held in Kyiv on September 10 and was a new phase of the project “Do like Olympians,” organized by the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine and Coca-Cola. Last year, two-time Olympic medalist, rhythmic gymnast Anna Bessonova developed a set of exercises which famous Ukrainian athletes performed at the flashmob together with children. The event has been recorded on video and distributed to schools throughout Ukraine, with the Olympic workout seen in 130 educational institutions and more than 8,500 schoolchildren joining it.

The organizers decided to continue the project. “We need to promote healthy lifestyles and the ‘Do like Olympians’ project is excellent in this regard. It would be nice to support this project not only in schools, but also in enterprises, as modern people should develop harmoniously,” President of the NOC of Ukraine Serhii Bubka said.

Famous Ukrainian athletes and Coca-Cola employees had their workout accompanied by fiery music, as the set of exercises combined elements of boxing, fencing, track and field competitions and more. “I was excited to see the workout including boxing,” London Olympic medal winner boxer Denys Berinchyk admitted. “Should children see such an event, they will repeat the exercises. Parents have to instill in their children habits of doing morning exercises and jogging. I train two or three times a day and cannot live without morning exercises, it is they that push me to medals, adequate life and decency.”

Finalist of the Olympic Games in Beijing, rhythmic gymnast Vira Perederii helped develop exercises for the Olympic workout. The athlete shared her impressions of the project: “I have got a lot of fun from it, and advise everyone to start each day with such a set of exercises. Sports have always brought people together. Small events, like this sports flashmob, bring a lot of positive feelings in every one of its participants. Starting with such small steps, we will gradually unite schools, and then even cities, so as to become a united country.”

After the flashmob, president of the NOC of Ukraine Bubka and CEO of Coca-Cola Ukraine Roger Gauntlett signed a new partnership agreement. Coca-Cola is   the oldest sponsor of the world Olympic movement, supporting it since the Olympic Games held in Amsterdam in 1928. The Ukrainian NOC has been cooperating with the company since 1996, implementing joint projects “Olympic Day,” “Ukrainian Olympic Lesson,” “Heroes of the Sports Year” and holding contest “Draw the Olympic Mascot” during which the stork nestling has been selected as the mascot of the Olympic team of Ukraine.

“We have common values with the Olympic movement, including a healthy lifestyle, the pursuit of happiness, and optimism. Our employees are one team, and they share the values of the company. We conduct morning yoga classes, our plant has a soccer team, and our employees can attend sporting events we support. We help many projects aiming to develop sport in Ukraine, and the oldest of them is our cooperation with the NOC. We also implement project ‘The Leather Ball’ in cooperation with the Association of Amateur Soccer of Ukraine and build playgrounds at schools,” Gauntlett said sharing his thoughts.

After signing of the agreement, Bubka told about new achievements of Ukrainian Olympians: “We are proud of the performance of the Ukrainian team that has recently returned from the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, where we won 29 medals. Therefore, our Olympians delight us.”