By Gary Anderson

A special flash mob helped launch the second edition of the NOCU's Do Like Olympians campaign in Kyiv ©NOCUThe second edition of the "Do Like Olympians" campaign has been launched in Kyiv today featuring Olympic stars, including London 2012 gold medallists Yana Shemyakina and Olexiy Torokhtiy, as well as Nanjing 2014 champions Yulia Levchenko and Anton Kuznetsov.

They were joined by a number of other Ukrainian Olympians, including former world champion gymnast Anna Bessonovf, who performed a special exercise routine outside Coca-Cola headquarters in the Ukrainian capital as part of a specially arranged flash mob.

Bessonovf's will be among a range of videos featuring sporting and exercise routines from some of Ukraine's sporting stars that will be distributed across schools as part of the "Do Like Olympians" initiative.

In addition to the video distribution, the athletes will visit schools to deliver workshops on promoting active lifestyles and the values of the Olympic Movement.

The campaign is run by the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU) and partners Coca-Cola and is due to run until May next year.

The first campaign was launched in December last year and reached over 8,500 children in more than 130 schools, according to NOCU, who are aiming to reach even more schools this year.

Former world champion Anna Bessonovf is one of a host of Ukrainian sports stars taking part in the Do Like Olympians campaign ©AFP/Getty ImagesFormer world champion Anna Bessonovf is one of a host of Ukrainian sports stars taking part in the Do Like Olympians campaign ©AFP/Getty Images



"Our Olympic flash mob could not happen without the support of [the] NOC's long-time friends and partners from Coca Cola Ukraine Ltd," said NOCU President Sergey Bubka.

"We [have been cooperating] since 1996 bringing a lot of social and sport-oriented programmes into life.

"Olympic Day', Olympic Lesson, Sport Heroes of the Year Award, Olympic Stork and other projects came as a result of this cooperation.

"With all gratitude for supporting us in this troublesome time I sign a new partnership deal with Coca-Cola hoping to launch a new era of our cooperation."

Coca-Cola has been the longest-standing sponsor of the Olympic Games dating back to Amsterdam in 1928 and has been a TOP partner since the programme was launched in 1986.

The global giant has been a partner of the NOCU since Atlanta 1996. 

Commenting on the "Do Like Olympians" campaign, Coca-Cola Ukraine general manager Roger Gauntlett said: "Our company and the Coca-Cola Foundation supports more than 280 programmes for sport and active lifestyle in 115 countries over the globe.

"Our key strategic partner in Ukraine is the National Olympic Committee - we share the same values and philosophy [on] active healthy life and [the] promotion of sport.

"We look forward [to] more new exciting projects."

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