the last olympian book 5

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05 The Last Olympian

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The Last Olympian

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

by Rick Riordan

Kronos and his Titan forces have converged on New York City. As the battle for Western civilization rages through the streets of Manhattan, the prophecy surrounding Percy Jackson unfolds . . . and Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

• Released 05/05/2009
• Book Length 400 pages
• ISBN 978-1-4231-0147-5
• Illustrated By John Rocco

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More about The Last Olympian

A half-blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds, And see the world in endless sleep, The hero’s soul, cursed blade shall reap. A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze.

The Great Prophecy, long withheld by the Oracle, has now been revealed. But like most prophecies, its meaning is unclear. Is the half-blood Percy, or another demigod born of the Big Three? Who is the hero, and what is the cursed blade? And what about the last line—is Olympus destined to survive or fall?

The answers have never been more important, for Kronos, the lord of time and king of the Titans, has risen from Tartarus. His essence has taken over Luke Castellan’s body and mind. Now he and his army of fellow Titans, monsters, and giants are raging across the country toward New York City. There, they will focus their attack on Manhattan, specifically the Empire State Building and Mount Olympus high above it. They will storm the ancient seat of the gods, and when they defeat them, they will claim Olympus for their own.

Joining the Titans’ side are hundreds of demigods, some from Camp Half-Blood. Ignored, unclaimed, and disrespected by their godly parents for too long, they listened to Kronos’s promises of revenge and turned their backs on the Olympians. When the time to battle their former friends comes—and it will—they will not hesitate to raise arms and fight to the death.

Percy Jackson and his fellow camper Charles Beckendorf are not about to let any of that happen. When they learn Kronos is on his floating stronghold, the Princess Andromeda , they sneak aboard and set explosives of Greek fire. The plan is to get off the ship and trigger the detonators, then cheer as the explosion kills Kronos and all on board.

But in Percy’s world, nothing ever goes to plan. Kronos captures the demigods. Luckily, his men aren’t the brightest. They don’t realize that Beckendorf has readied the Greek fire. All he has to do is push a button on his watch. . . .

Beckendorf signals Percy to jump overboard. Then he detonates the bombs, blowing up the ship and sacrificing himself to stop Kronos. Except . . . Kronos survives. His army closes in on Manhattan. Soon the battle of the gods and the Titans will begin. And when it does, it will destroy the city and the people in it.

Desperate to find a way to defeat the Titan lord, Percy travels to Westport, Connecticut, to talk to May Castellan, Luke’s mother. Maybe something from Luke’s past will help him penetrate past Kronos to reach whatever remains of Luke’s essence. But May lost her mind years earlier when she tried to become the next Oracle of Delphi. It’s a dead end.

Dead is the first thing that comes to mind when Percy returns to Manhattan. All the people have collapsed where they stood. But they’re only sleeping, put down by Orpheus, the god of dreams, so they won’t interfere in the battle to come.

And come it does . . . with a vengeance. Monsters, Titans, Cyclopes, giants, and demigods launch a citywide attack. The air is thick with arrows, smoke, and projectiles heaved from catapults. Swords clash and slice. Magical explosions bring down bridges and buildings. A drakon rages and a pig flies (really).

The battle’s deciding moment comes when Annabeth stands before Kronos, unarmed and bleeding. She appeals to Luke, reminding him of a promise he once made to keep her safe. The last vestige of his humanity overpowers Kronos . . . but is he strong enough to break free of the Titan’s hold? Or will Kronos consume him once and for all and storm Olympus with his Titan horde? And if he does, will he find all the gods waiting for him? Or just one . . . the last Olympian?

Books in the series

The Lightning Thief Reissue

The Sea of Monsters Reissue

The Titan's Curse Reissue

The Battle of the Labyrinth Reissue

The Last Olympian Reissue

The Lightning Thief

The Sea of Monsters

The Titan’s Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth

From Percy Jackson: Camp Half-Blood Confidential

The Percy Jackson Coloring Book

The Lightning Thief: Illustrated Edition

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel

The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel

The Titan’s Curse: The Graphic Novel

Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods

The Demigod Files

The Ultimate Guide

The Battle of the Labyrinth: The Graphic Novel

The Last Olympian: The Graphic Novel

Percy Jackson Demigod Collection

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Rick Riordan

Percy jackson and the last olympian (book 5).

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When you’re the son of a Greek god, it happens. But now that day has come, as Kronos, Lord of the Titans, is beginning his attack on New York City. And the dreaded monster Typhon is also heading that way. So it’s Percy and his demigod friends versus untold evil . . . No pressure, right? Return to the World of Percy Jackson in the best-selling, brand-new adventure featuring the original hero in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Chalice of the Gods – out now! And don't miss the trio's next adventure in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Wrath of the Triple Goddess, coming soon!

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Rick Riordan

Series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Lightning Thief

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction — Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.

The Sea of Monsters

When Thalia’s tree is mysteriously poisoned, the magical borders of Camp Half-Blood begin to fail. Now Percy and his friends have just days to find the only magic item powerful to save the camp before it is overrun by monsters. The catch: they must sail into the Sea of Monsters to find it. Along the way, Percy must stage a daring rescue operation to save his old friend Grover, and he learns a terrible secret about his own family, which makes him question whether being the son of Poseidon is an honor or a curse.

The Titan’s Curse

When Percy Jackson gets an urgent distress call from his friend Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he will need his powerful demigod allies at his side, his trusty bronze sword Riptide, and… a ride from his mom.

The demigods rush to the rescue to find that Grover has made an important discovery: two powerful half-bloods whose parentage is unknown. But that’s not all that awaits them. The titan lord Kronos has devised his most treacherous plot yet, and the young heroes have just fallen prey.

They’re not the only ones in danger. An ancient monster has arisen — one rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus — and Artemis, the only goddess who might know how to track it, is missing. Now Percy and his friends, along with the Hunters of Artemis, have only a week to find the kidnapped goddess and solve the mystery of the monster she was hunting. Along the way, they must face their most dangerous challenge yet: the chilling prophecy of the titan’s curse.

The Battle of the Labyrinth

Percy Jackson isn’t expecting freshman orientation to be any fun, but when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears, pursued by demon cheerleaders, things quickly go from bad to worse.

Time is running out for Percy. War between the gods and the Titans is drawing near. Even Camp Half-Blood isn’t safe, as Kronos’ army prepares to invade its once impenetrable borders. To stop them, Percy and his friends must set out on a quest through the Labyrinth — a sprawling underground world with surprises and danger at every turn.

Along the way Percy will confront powerful enemies, find out the truth about the lost god Pan, and face the Titan lord Kronos’ most terrible secret. The final war begins… with the Battle of the Labyrinth.

The Last Olympian

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows.

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time. In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

The Chalice of the Gods

After saving the world multiple times, Percy Jackson is hoping to have a normal senior year. Unfortunately, the gods aren’t quite done with him. Percy will have to fulfill three quests in order to get the necessary three letters of recommendation from Mount Olympus for college. The first quest is to help Zeus’s cup-bearer retrieve his goblet before it falls into the wrong hands. Can Percy, Grover, and Annabeth find it in time?

Wrath of the Triple Goddess

Percy Jackson, now a high school senior, needs three recommendation letters from the Greek gods in order to get into New Rome University. He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s chalice. Now the goddess Hecate has offered Percy another “opportunity”—all he has to do is pet sit her polecat, Gale, and mastiff, Hecuba, over Halloween week while she is away. Piece of cake, right?

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover settle into Hecate’s seemingly endless mansion and start getting acquainted with the fussy, terrifying animals. The trio has been warned not to touch anything, but while Percy and Annabeth are out at school, Grover can’t resist drinking a strawberry-flavored potion in the laboratory. It turns him into a giant frenzied goat, and after he rampages through the house, damaging everything in sight, and passes out, Gale and Hecuba escape. Now the friends have to find Hecate’s pets and somehow restore the house, all before Hecate gets back on Saturday. It’s going to take luck, demigod wiles, and some old and new friends to hunt down the animals and set things right again.

More Books On This Series

The Demigod Files

A supplement to the Percy Jackson series, The Demigod Files include three original Percy Jackson short stories, interviews with the characters, and other fun extras!

The Ultimate Guide

A handbook no half-blood should be without: a fully illustrated, in-depth guide to gods, monsters, and all things Percy. This companion to the series comes complete with trading cards, full-color…

The Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel

You’ve read the book. You’ve seen the movie. Now submerge yourself in the thrilling, stunning, and action-packed graphic novel. Mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be…

The Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel

Seventh grade has been surprisingly quiet for Percy Jackson. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep-school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among…

The Titan’s Curse: The Graphic Novel

A new prophecy leads to a dangerous quest. When Percy receives an urgent distress call from Grover, he immediately prepares for battle. He knows he’ll need his powerful demigod allies,…

Percy Jackson’s Greek Heroes

Who cut off Medusa’s head? Who was raised by a she-bear? Who tamed Pegasus? It takes a demigod to know, and Percy Jackson can fill you in on all the daring…

Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods

“A publisher in New York asked me to write down what I know about the Greek gods, and I was like, Can we do this anonymously?  Because I don’t need…

Demigods & Magicians

Magic, monsters, and mayhem abound when Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase meet Carter and Sadie Kane for the first time. Weird creatures are appearing in unexpected places, and the demigods…

The Percy Jackson Coloring Book

Demigods, brandish your crayons! Over the past decade, millions of young readers, parents, and teachers have come to adore Rick Riordan’s classic series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which made…

Camp Half-Blood Confidential

In response to an awful camp orientation video created by the god Apollo, Percy Jackson and other residents of Camp Half-Blood answer such questions as “What is this place?” and…

Characters From This Series

Parent Teacher Resources

• Percy Posters
• Daily Activity Schedule
• The Lightning Thief: A Teacher’s Guide
• Olympian “Cribs”
• Meet the Greek Gods
• A Complete Lightning Thief Unit
• Projects from Gatesville
• Chiron’s Guide to Greek Mythology
• The Lightning Thief: A Reader’s Guide
• Camp Half-Blood Dining Hall

View All Parent Teacher Resources

The Last Olympian

• View history

The Last Olympian is a novel by Rick Riordan , published on May 5, 2009. It is the fifth and final installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

This conclusion to the saga revolves around Percy Jackson , the son of Poseidon , as he leads his friends in a last stand to protect Mount Olympus and the rest of the world from Kronos and his army of titans and monsters.

• 1.1 Blowing up The Princess Andromeda
• 1.2 The Last Olympian
• 1.3 The River Styx
• 1.4 Percy's Dreams
• 1.5 Dionysus, Old Friends, Drakons, and the Spy
• 1.6 The Cursed Blade
• 2.1.1 Unraveling the Prophecy
• 2.2 The Prophecy of Seven
• 3 Chapter List
• 4 Characters
• 10 References

Blowing up The Princess Andromeda

Percy and his friend Rachel Elizabeth Dare drive to a ridge overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There, Rachel reveals that her father is trying to get her to go to a finishing school, Clarion Ladies Academy , that she does not want to go to. She asks if Percy has decided whether he would go with her and her family for vacation or not. Before he could answer, Blackjack , Percy's pegasus , lands on the hood of the car with Charles Beckendorf , a son of Hephaestus , on his back. Beckendorf announces that it is time for them to take out the Princess Andromeda .

Rachel Elizabeth Dare

Rachel kisses Percy and wishes him good luck. The two demigods then leave. In good humor, Beckendorf states that the kiss might be better left a secret to Annabeth Chase to which Percy agrees. The two see the ship and sneak onto it. A telekhine sees them, but is killed before he sounded the alarm. They then set Greek Fire explosives in the engine room. Percy leaves the room to distract the monsters on the ship, telling Beckendorf to meet him at the air pad.

Percy is captured and brought before Luke, who is now housing Kronos from the events of The Battle of the Labyrinth . The Titan duels Percy for the fun of it, and he mentions a spy in camp . A few minutes later, Beckendorf appears. It is revealed that all the other explosives are already in place and there would be no time to escape the ship once they explode. This is realized by the enemy forces a moment too late as Beckendorf had made it look like he was only about to plant the bombs when he got captured.

He silently convinces Percy to flee, but Percy refuses to leave him behind. Suddenly, a dracanae notices the trigger on Beckendorf's arm. Beckendorf moves to detonate the bomb, leaving Percy no choice but to escape the ship. He jumps off and wills the currents to speed him away. The ship explodes, and Percy blacks out, thinking only of Beckendorf.

Percy dreams as he drifts unconscious through the ocean. His dream takes place on Mount Othrys during a conversation between Krios and Hyperion . The two Titans talk of their plans to destroy Olympus . After they conclude their conversation, the scene shifts. Percy sees Nico di Angelo eavesdropping on the Titans as well. Nico then asks Percy how exactly he intends to defeat the Titans without the former’s plan before Percy comes to. Percy realizes that he is in Poseidon 's kingdom and is being tended to by his half-brother, Tyson .

Tyson then leads Percy to Poseidon's throne room, where he meets Poseidon's wife and godly son, Amphitrite and Triton , respectively. Poseidon then informs Percy that he is battling Oceanus . He confirms Percy's fears when he tells Percy that Beckendorf did not survive, but also reassures him that Beckendorf did not die in vain and that their little expedition had bought time for the Olympians . Before he sends Percy on his way, he states that Percy must return to Camp Half-Blood to fulfill the rest of the prophecy .

Returning to Camp Half-Blood, Percy brings news of the Princess Andromeda and Beckendorf. Though the campers are initially happy that the Princess Andromeda has been destroyed, they are distraught when Percy tells them of Beckendorf's sacrifice. Later, the camp's war council convenes. Chiron asks Percy and Annabeth to retrieve the prophecy from the Oracle . When the two return, they find the war council in a state of chaos. The head councilors of the Ares and Apollo cabins, Clarisse La Rue and Michael Yew respectively, are arguing. When nobody takes Clarisse’s side, she storms off, stating that the Ares cabin will not help the rest of them fight the war.

Typhon , the Father of Monsters.

Percy then proceeds to read the prophecy – which everyone now concludes to be about him – and realizes that no matter whose side he chooses to fight on, he will inevitably die. The other counselors realize this too, and sympathize with Percy. He brushes this aside and moves on to another matter: a spy in camp that Kronos had mentioned. The counselors begin accusing each other of being the spy when Silena Beauregard , Beckendorf's girlfriend, silences them by reminding them that Beckendorf has died and all they can do is sit and squabble. Through Iris Message, Chiron then shows them that the finally free Typhon has been making his way toward an unguarded Olympus, even with the gods trying to stop him.

The night following the meeting, Percy dreams of Rachel . In his dream, Rachel looks over two photos she has recently drawn. The first is a picture of Luke when he was younger, and the second is a picture of Olympus surrounded by lightning and figures wielding weapons.

The next day, Percy and Annabeth review the camp's cabins and the reports sent into the camp. Percy then reveals that Grover Underwood has disappeared without a trace and that their Empathy Link is weakening. Annabeth tells him that the source of the fight between the Apollo and Ares cabins is a chariot that the Apollo campers took in a raid that the Ares campers led. Annabeth regrets showing Percy the prophecy when Percy indirectly hints that the camp’s situation is hopeless, and Annabeth angrily walks away after calling him a coward.

Needing a break, Percy wanders to the training arena to visit Mrs. O'Leary , his hellhound . When he arrives there, Ms. O'Leary runs into the forest, causing Percy to chase after her. He follows her to the clearing where the Lords of the Wild hold their meetings. There, Percy finds Nico , Leneus , one of the Council of Cloven Elders members, and Grover's girlfriend Juniper talking about Grover.

Leneus initially refuses to help Grover, but is forced to by Percy. After Juniper and Leneus leave, Percy and Nico talk about Nico’s plan. Percy recalls earlier on the Princess Andromeda how he was unable to wound Kronos/Luke. Nico tells him that he could have the same advantage. Percy hesitates, but Nico insists very fiercely, which is unlike him. Percy relents and they then travel together via shadow travel on Mrs. O'Leary to find Luke's mother in order to discover Luke 's past.

Percy and Nico arrive at Luke's mother's house in Westport, Connecticut and find that she is in a psychotic state. Ms. Castellan greets the two boys as Luke when they arrive. She then invites Percy and Nico to lunch with her. Percy and Nico discover that Luke ran away in order to protect his mother from the monsters that are constantly hounding him. They also learn that when he gave his body as a host for Kronos, he required his mother's blessing. Having the information they came for, they attempt to leave, but Luke’s mother seemingly becomes possessed before returning to normal. Disturbed, Percy and Nico say goodbye and run from the house to find that Mrs. O'Leary has been approached by the goddess Hestia .

Hestia , the Last Olympian.

Hestia provides lunch for the boys and then tells Percy that no matter what side he chooses, he must remember her because she is the last Olympian. She goes on to explain that while all the Olympians are gone, she is the only one who remains for she is the goddess of the home.

Hestia then sends Percy and Nico to Percy's own home where they are greeted by his mother, Sally Jackson , and Paul Blofis who finally believes Percy's mother about everything that has to do with the supernatural. Percy and Nico tell her of their plan and she reluctantly gives Percy her blessing, and asks him to give her a signal if he does survive the war. Ready to carry out the plan, Nico and Percy shadow travel to Central Park to reach another entrance to the Underworld .

When Percy and Nico arrive at Central Park, Nico tells Percy that they will need music to enter the Underworld from that entrance. Suddenly, Percy feels Grover's presence and, uses his Empathy Link to awaken Grover out of a deep sleep. Grover then falls out of a tree near Percy and Nico.

He explains that he was spreading the news about Pan 's death and recruiting fighters when he saw a strange man walking through Central Park. Everyone within the immediate vicinity of the strange man would fall asleep, and when he has passed them, they would awake as if nothing had happened. As he went to confront the man, the man put him under a deep sleep.

After Grover's story, Nico says that Grover had encountered Morpheus , the god of dreams, and that his presence meant that the invasion is coming sooner than it was expected. The two then tell Grover their plan, and Grover, though scared for Percy and frightened of the Underworld, plays a song to open the gate to the Underworld before leaving to tell Juniper that he is alive. Traveling into the Underworld, they soon reach the River Styx . Nico, however, detours Percy towards the gate to Hades’s palace, and ultimately hands him over to the Furies .

As Percy realizes he has been tricked, he fights against Nico but is stopped by the Furies and has his sword thrown off a cliff, leaving him defenseless. Nico explains that his father had promised him information on his past if he turned Percy in. Upon arriving in Hades's throne room, Percy, Nico and Hades are joined by Persephone , and her mother Demeter .

Hades , the God of the Underworld.

Hades then reveals that he sent Nico and his sister to the magical hotel they were abandoned at to protect them and to keep them from aging until they left. He adds that the lawyer that took them out of the hotel was actually the Fury Alecto . Hades states that he planned to refrain from helping in the fight for Olympus and that after the Titans took over, he would strike their weakened forces. He then sends Nico off and takes Percy captive.

The River Styx

Percy ends up having yet another dream. He sees Rachel with her family on vacation and feels sad that he is unable to join them. He also sees that she is drawing in the sand in Ancient Greek. The dream changes to a view from the top of the St. Louis Arch. Percy sees the monstrous shape of Typhon and barely makes out the gods as they fight him off. Percy wakes up and sees Nico. He immediately pins Nico to the floor of his cell. Nico truthfully explains to Percy that he had no idea that capturing Percy was what his father had in mind.

Nico then helps Percy escape to the River Styx on Mrs. O'Leary. When the two get there, Percy has a talk with Achilles before bathing in the River Styx to become nearly invincible, leaving only the small of his back, opposite the naval, as his weakness. As Percy wades out of the river, he is attacked by Hades' minions and Hades himself. Percy escapes after defeating Hades and his minions using his new found strength. As he leaves he tells Nico to stay and convince Hades to fight.

Percy then travels out of the Underworld and towards the Empire State Building . He calls Annabeth on his mom’s phone and tells her to round up the campers and head to the Empire State Building. Though he remembers that one of them is the spy, he tells all of them anyway of his plan to get Zeus to defend Mount Olympus. It is here that Percy is officially recognized as the camp's leader.

They head to the 600th floor and find the throne room empty except for Hestia , who is still tending the fire. She then shows him a vision of the day Luke and Thalia Grace found Annabeth — the same day Luke gave her the knife she still uses — and when Luke meets his dad, Hermes , for the first time. Percy almost collapses, overwhelmed by the vision.

Hermes suddenly arrives, and Hestia leaves. Uneasy because nothing is going as planned, Percy and Annabeth send the other demigods away to scout Olympus, leaving the two alone with Hermes. The god relays a message from Athena saying that they must defend Manhattan by using Plan 23 . To Percy, Athena tells him to remember the rivers and to stay away from her daughter. Annabeth mentions Luke, and Hermes, angry that she has brought up the subject, accuses her of being unable to prevent Luke from hosting Kronos. Percy defends her, and the god of messengers departs with sadness and grief.

The campers gather in a small park at the edge of the mountain and find that Morpheus has caused all the mortal residents of Manhattan to fall asleep to prevent human intervention. They look beyond the borders of Manhattan and figure out that Kronos and Hecate must be using their powers to slow down time around the vicinity of Manhattan in such a way that the closer mortals get to the island, the slower time is.

The group then exits the building. Percy divides the campers into groups to guard the bridges and tunnels that the enemy may use to get to Olympus . As he realizes that he has left the Lincoln Tunnel open (even with a WWII M4 Sherman headed there), Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis appear and state that they would stand guard over that route. The group dissipates to meet the incoming invasion forces. Percy and Annabeth then fly on pegasi to activate Plan 23.

They proceed to help the Apollo campers on Williamsburg Bridge , the bridge connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. The Apollo campers, Annabeth, and Percy manage to drive the enemy back to Brooklyn when they realize that enemy reinforcements, headed by Kronos himself, are on the other side of the bridge. The group falls back, but they fight nonetheless. During the battle, Annabeth intercepts a stab meant for Percy that was directed towards his weak point. The demigods retreat when Percy realizes how much strength he has and strikes Riptide into the bridge with such force that the bridge breaks. Michael Yew goes missing, seemingly like he fell off the bridge. Percy tells some Apollo campers to search for him. Kronos turns back and the campers and Hunters regroup and settle down for the night in their new headquarters, a hotel at the southeast corner of Central Park.

Percy's Dreams

Nico di Angelo .

Percy dreams about Nico where the latter is trying to summon his mother’s ghost, but his sister's spirit forbids him to. Nico insists, but instead of his mother’s ghost he is met with a vision. In the vision, he sees Maria di Angelo and Hades in the era of World War II. The two are arguing about Nico and Bianca's safety.

Hades wants to take them to either the Underworld , or to the Lotus Hotel and Casino where they will be safe. Maria replies that she cannot agree to either as she would want them to have a normal life. Zeus then makes the hotel where they are currently staying in explode, killing Maria di Angelo though the lives he had wanted to claim were Nico's and Bianca's. Zeus did this for fear that the Great Prophecy will be about either Bianca or Nico.

Hades then sends for Alecto and orders her to wash the di Angelos' memories clean in the River Lethe and to take them to the Lotus Hotel and Casino , where Zeus cannot harm them. The Oracle approaches Hades and states that she had warned him this would happen. Hades, in all his anger and sadness, curses the spirit of Oracle, declaring that it will never find another human host until he and his children are welcomed in Olympus. The dream changes, and Percy sees Rachel at the beach with her parents. She has a gut feeling that New York is being invaded by monsters and that Percy is in trouble. She then persuades her parents to leave the beach with her and go back to Manhattan.

Percy is awakened by Thalia , who tells him that a Titan, Prometheus , has come to negotiate. Percy, Grover , and Thalia go to Central Park where the Titan stands with Ethan Nakamura , an empousa , and a clumsy Hyperborean Giant . The Titan states that Olympus is destined to fall, and that the demigods should surrender. When Percy refuses, Prometheus shows him more of Luke's past. In the vision, Percy sees Luke and Hermes arguing. Percy is moved by what he saw, but remains adamant. Prometheus then gives him Pandora's box, a pithos containing the Elpis , the Spirit of Hope. Prometheus tells Percy that if and when they decide to surrender, he only needs to release Hope, and the Titan would know.

The group head back to their headquarters. Due to his exhaustion, Percy falls asleep and dreams of Poseidon's undersea palace. The place is in disorder, and the sea is transformed into a huge battleground. The dream shifts to Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium , the slain Medusa 's lair.

Percy sees the sheer numbers of the enemy forces, but his attention is drawn to Kronos, who is conversing with Ethan Nakamura , the demigod who had almost stabbed Percy in his weak spot. The dream shifts one last time to the Big House in a different era. There, Percy sees what truly happened to May Castellan , who tried to take the spirit of the Oracle . He quickly wakes and heads down to Central Park with some demigods. There, he sees the Titan Hyperion along with some other monsters. The two battle it out on the lake. Percy later has the upper hand when he creates a small hurricane to douse Hyperion's fiery aura. Grover and his satyr friends then successfully trap him inside a maple tree.

Almost immediately, the Clazmonian Sow descends and wreaks havoc. Percy and Blackjack chase it. Percy then activates some of the automatons scattered in New York via Plan 23 and orders them to destroy the Sow. After they successfully do so, he retreats back to the Empire State Building . Arriving there, he realizes that the campers have been pushed back to the doors of the building. Luckily they are saved by Chiron's cousins, the Party Ponies . As the last of the Titan army flees, Chiron notes that they will be back, and states that they should heal their wounded.

Dionysus, Old Friends, Drakons, and the Spy

As he talks with Annabeth about Luke, Percy suddenly finds himself at a party in the southern United States. There he finds Dionysus playing Pac-Man, who explains that it was he who had brought Percy's consciousness to that place. Dionsyus warns him not to lose Olympus, for it would be the end of Western civilization. Before he sends Percy back, Dionysius asks Percy to keep his son Pollux safe, and Percy agrees.

As Percy’s consciousness is brought back to New York, he suddenly sees Rachel on a helicopter. The helicopter is in danger of crashing as the pilot is asleep, but Annabeth manages to get inside the cockpit and steer it safely to the ground. Rachel and Percy then talk, with Rachel revealing a crucial piece of information: Percy is not the hero. Percy is visibly shocked and returns to the hotel headquarters.

Soon, Percy falls asleep again. In his first dream, he sees Nico trying to convince his father to fight in the battle for Olympus. The dream changes, and Percy sees Kronos ordering Ethan and Prometheus to release the drakon . He wakes and organizes his forces for battle. He and Annabeth go fight the drakon despite the fact that — according to Rachel — only a child of Ares can kill it.

They are then surprised when they see Clarisse leading her cabin into battle. However, after Clarisse is attacked by the drakon and falls from her chariot, they realize something is wrong. The real Clarisse soon arrives and they all recognize that the fallen one as Silena Beauregard . Silena, knowing that she has little time, reveals herself as the spy. She explains that before she met Beckendorf, Luke was very kind to her. When she wanted to stop helping him, he threatened to blackmail her. Silena then passes away. Out of anger, Clarisse single-handedly kills the drakon.

After Clarisse defeats the drakon, Thalia suggests that Percy and Annabeth go to Olympus to help set up the final defenses. On their way to the elevator, they see Grover kneeling over a dying Leneus. After Leneus is reincarnated into a laurel, Grover accompanies Percy and Annabeth to plant Leneus in the gardens of Olympus.

As they near the main Olympian palace, they see Rachel holding Pandora's pithos as if in a trance. Percy brings her back to reality, and she gives the jar to Percy. Sensing that Percy and Rachel need a moment in private, Annabeth and Grover leave the two. Hestia suddenly appears, and Percy gives her the pithos as he realizes that in order to resist the temptation to give up Hope, he must leave it in the place where it survives best — in Hestia's domain: the hearth.

Annabeth and Grover return, and Percy tells them of his plan to convince Poseidon  to fight for Olympus instead of his domain in the sea. They then help Percy climb on to Poseidon's throne where he is able to telepathically communicate with his father. Though Percy almost combusts as a result of Poseidon's anger that anyone else dared to sit on his throne, Percy is successful in convincing his father to fight along with the other gods against Typhon. At that moment, Thalia comes in to tell them that Kronos's army has reached the doors of Olympus.

The Cursed Blade

Kronos makes his way towards Olympus when Hades appears along with Persephone , Demeter , Nico , and a massive undead army. Impatient to get to Olympus, Kronos collapses the magical barriers around Manhattan and draws it closer to Olympus. By doing so, he has cut himself, his vanguard, and Percy’s group (composed of himself, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia) off from the bulk of his army and from Hades. As Percy’s group fight off Kronos' vanguard, Kronos, along with Ethan , makes his way up to Olympus, where he starts to obliterate it.

Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia quickly follow him, but Thalia is incapacitated when a statue of Hera falls on her. She urges everyone else to go on without her. The rest of the group make it to the throne room, and the final battle begins. Percy takes on Ethan, and is able to convince him to help him fight Kronos. Kronos kills Ethan after his betrayal. Annabeth then attempts to awaken Luke inside his body by calling out to him. Kronos, however, manages to incapacitate the three campers.

Confident of his triumph, Kronos then shows them a vision of the Typhon , who, by now, has reached the Hudson River, with the gods barely slowing him down. Suddenly, Poseidon appears, and the gods strike with renewed force. They manage to send Typhon back to Tartarus , and Kronos destroys the vision in anger.

Luke Castellan .

Annabeth continues to try calling out to Luke, and is tossed across the throne room in return. Annabeth, now seriously weakened, tries one last time to bring Luke out by reminding him of his promise to her: that they would always be a family. The fact that he had hurt Annabeth spurs Luke to regain control of his body.

Percy tries to defend Annabeth as he wrongfully thinks that Luke still has evil intentions against them, causing Kronos to repossess the body. Luke, however, struggles to keep control. Luke tells Percy that in order to defeat Kronos, he must be slain by his own hand as Kronos would regain control if anyone else approaches him aggressively. Percy picks up Annabeth's knife, and though he initially decides to kill Luke himself, he gives the knife to Luke. Luke then stabs himself in his own weak spot. Because of his sacrifice, the Titan lord is defeated. His body is taken away by the Fates.

The gods return to Olympus and reward the heroes for their courage and valor. They promote Tyson to the rank of General of the Cyclopes , and present him with the most finely made club. They instate Annabeth as the official architect for the redesigning of Olympus. They award Grover the empty seat in the Council of Cloven Elders .

In addition, all the victims of the war would achieve Elysium . Lastly, the gods offer Percy immortality, but Percy declines, instead asking for a different wish. He asks them to claim all demigods they have sired as soon as they reach thirteen or as soon as they have reached camp. He also asks that Hades and the minor gods be respected and given a cabin for their children at camp. Plus, Percy asks for the Big Three Pact to be broken, saying the pact 'didn't work'. Because the gods swore on the River Styx, they must oblige to his wish, though some of them are uncomfortable with it. He is then congratulated by the gods.

Later, Nico tells Percy that Rachel has escaped to camp. Knowing what she is about to do, Percy quickly summons hippocampi to take himself, Annabeth and Nico back to camp, but it is too late — Rachel had already chosen to take the spirit of the Oracle. However, instead of becoming like May Castellan , Rachel is able to successfully become the new Oracle, and at that same day, speaks her first prophecy .

The dead are burned in their funeral shrouds that night. During the burning of Silena 's shroud, she is honored as a hero, and her actions as a spy are never mentioned again. Percy and Annabeth decide to make their relationship official, and life in camp returns to the usual for the next two weeks. Because the gods uphold their promise, new demigods keep appearing in many different places. Cabins are also being built for the minor gods. Even with Rachel Elizabeth Dare 's prophecy bothering them, Percy and Annabeth are excited about camp for the next summer and look forward to the future.

The Great Prophecy

In The Last Olympian , the Great Prophecy is revealed:

A half blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds, And see the world in endless sleep, The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap, A single choice shall end his days, Olympus to preserve or raze.

Unraveling the Prophecy

The characters who play major parts in the Last Olympian and the First Great Prophecy.

• Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon , who, with his two brothers, are the eldest gods.
• Percy turns sixteen even though he has several near-death experiences.
• Morpheus puts all the mortals in Manhattan into a deep sleep.
• The hero refers to Luke , whose soul is reaped by Annabeth's Knife . The knife is cursed because of Luke's broken promise to Annabeth and Thalia .
• Percy makes the choice to give Luke the knife.
• Luke chooses to save Olympus rather than destroy it.

The Prophecy of Seven

Near the end of the book, Rachel Elizabeth Dare , the new Oracle, speaks a new Great Prophecy:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call, To storm or fire, the world must fall, An oath to keep with a final breath, And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

The Last Olympian

62 pages • 2 hours read

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Summary and Study Guide

Rick Riordan’s The Last Olympian is the fifth and final installment of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Published in 2009, this fantasy children’s book was a #1 bestseller on the lists of USA Today , the LA Times , and the Wall Street Journal . The novel follows the teenage demigod Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and of a mortal woman. He and other demigods spend their summers at Camp Half-Blood, located in Long Island, NY.

When the novel opens, two sets of Greek gods are at war: the original race of gods, the Titans, versus the Olympians, their descendants. The demigods fight on the side of the Olympians, whose home, Mount Olympus, is located on the 600th floor of the Empire State Building in Manhattan, NY.

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In the first scene of the novel, Percy and his fellow demigod Charles Beckendorf infiltrate Kronos’s ship. The latter is the Titan god of time, and he is leading the fight against the Olympians. Kronos has overtaken the body of Luke Castellan , a demigod who has bathed in the River Styx to become invulnerable. Although Percy and Charles succeed in blowing up the ship, Charles dies before he escapes.

Percy returns to Camp Half-Blood, where he encounters his mentor Chiron (a centaur) and love interest Annabeth Chase (daughter of Athena). The Oracle of Delphi, in the form of a mummified doll, reveals the Great Prophecy—the hero will make a choice to ensure the ultimate success or destruction of Olympus, a choice which will ensure the hero's demise. Although it appears as though Percy is the hero mentioned in the prophecy, the author later reveals that it is Luke. 

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Once deciding to accept the Prophecy, Percy goes on a journey with Nico di Angelo , son of Hades , to learn more about Luke’s background in order to better be able to defeat him. They visit May Castellan , Luke’s mother, who has lost touch with reality. She is a mortal but has the gift of prophecy and tried to take on the role of the new Oracle of Delphi but was cursed.

Percy and Nico next journey to Central Park, which offers a passage to the Underworld. While there, they meet up with Grover Underwood , a satyr and Percy’s best friend. Grover becomes instrumental in helping lead the war efforts. Percy and Nico descend into the Underworld, and Percy bathes in the River Styx, rendering him invulnerable save for a patch on his lower back.

Next, Percy meets his fellow demigods at the Empire State Building. Their main objective is to keep the Titans away from Mount Olympus. They devise a plan to block off all of the entrances to Manhattan, and the various teams disperse. Percy and Annabeth stick together.

The demigods fight several battles against various monsters, such as the Clazmonian Sow, the Lydian pig, and the drakon. They force Kronos’s army back, but the fight wages on. During the battle, Rachel Dare , a mortal with the gift of sight, arrives to tell Percy that he is not the hero in the Prophecy. Rachel is another one of Percy’s love interests.

Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia finally go to Mount Olympus in a last-ditch effort to defend it. The city is crumbling around them, and Kronos has entered the throne room. Percy fights him, and Annabeth speaks to Luke, whose spirit is still present in Kronos. Annabeth and Luke have a history together, and she is able to get him to turn against Kronos and defeat him. Luke uses his own sword to kill Kronos, effectively killing himself. In this way, Luke fulfills the Prophecy.

Everyone returns to Camp Half-Blood to tend to the wounded and give burials to the dead. Rachel becomes the new Oracle of Delphi and tells Percy that they cannot be together. Percy confesses his feelings to Annabeth, and they two become a couple. The book ends as summer draws to a close, and the various demigods leave to go back to school in the normal world.

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How To Read The Percy Jackson Books In Order

• The Percy Jackson book series, "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," consists of six books and should be read in the order of their release dates.
• Rick Riordan has written other book series within the Percy Jackson universe, including "The Heroes of Olympus," "The Kane Chronicles," "Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard," and "The Trials of Apollo."
• Each book series explores different mythologies and introduces new characters, but some characters from previous series make appearances.

As the Disney+ television show based on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson book series gets closer, it's time for old and new fans to brush up on their knowledge of the novels. Thankfully, the order to read all six of them is straightforward since their chronological order lines up with their release order. However, Riordan has written other book series set in the Percy Jackson universe, and that is when the timeline gets a bit tricky.

Riordan created the character of Percy Jackson when his son was young, and the author used to tell him stories about Greek mythology. He turned his bedtime stories into a novel — The Lightning Thief — and the rest is history. The upcoming show, Percy Jackson and the Olympians , premieres on December 20, 2023, and season 1 follows the first book. The hope is that the Disney+ series is successful enough to warrant more seasons, each one based on the subsequent novel in the universe. Following the disaster that was the 2010 film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief , many have high expectations for the 2023 show.

Percy Jackson Books In Order: All 6 Books

Percy jackson and the olympians.

Rick Riordan and Disney-Hyperion published The Lightning Thief in 2005, and four more books in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series would soon follow. The first novel introduces readers to the main protagonist — Percy Jackson, a demigod who has no idea about his godly parentage until a fateful encounter with a Minotaur. He soon becomes a camper at Camp Half-Blood and learns that his father is the god of the sea, Poseidon. From that moment on, Percy's life was never the same.

All five books in the series — The Lightning Thief , The Sea of Monsters , The Titan's Curse , The Battle of the Labyrinth , and The Last Olympian — can and should be read in the same order as their release date since each installment takes place after the previous one. The novels encompass Percy's hero's journey from when he first arrives at Camp Half-Blood as a 12-year-old to his 16th birthday. More than 14 years following the release of The Last Olympian , Riordan published another book featuring Percy, Annabeth, and Grover called The Chalice of the Gods , which occurs between the events of The Heroes of Olympus and The Trials of Apollo (more on those later).

Related: What Is The Pact Of The Big Three In Percy Jackson? The Gods' Oath Explained

Rick Riordan's Other Book Series With Percy Jackson

The kane chronicles.

While The Kane Chronicles doesn't feature Percy Jackson or any other Greek half-bloods, it takes place in the same universe. The book series by Rick Riordan tells the story of Carter and Sadie Kane, siblings descended from two pharaohs — Narmer and Ramses the Great. So, instead of Greek or Roman mythology, The Kane Chronicles focuses on Egyptian mythology and occurs following The Last Olympian . But one does not need to read the following three books to understand Percy's story.

The Heroes Of Olympus

Following the (tentative) conclusion of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians book series in 2009, Rick Riordan decided he had more stories to tell about these characters and new ones. More than a year after publishing The Last Olympian , the author released the first novel in his new series, The Heroes of Olympus , which consists of five books. The series continues the chronological order of this universe by taking place following the battle against Kronos and his army in The Last Olympian . However, whereas the first series was told solely from Percy's point of view, The Heroes of Olympus is told from multiple characters' perspectives.

The first novel, The Lost Hero , introduces a few demigods — Jason Grace, who has no memory of his past and learns he is the son of Zeus; Piper McLean, Jason's girlfriend and the daughter of Aphrodite; and Leo Valdez, Jason's best friend and son of Hephaestus. However, while these heroes learn more about themselves and the gods, Percy Jackson is missing. Thankfully, he is not gone for too long because the second book, The Son of Neptune , coincides with the events of the first one and features Percy, who had lost his memories like Jason, at Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod training camp and counterpart to Camp Half-Blood.

Overall, The Heroes of Olympus brings Greek and Roman half-blood heroes together to defeat a new threat — Gaia. One would think Percy and his friends would be able to rest after the events of The Last Olympian , but they are back to trying to prevent the end of the world only months later. Like the first series, The Heroes of Olympus should be read in the order of release date .

Magnus Chase & The Gods Of Asgard

The other book series in the Percy Jackson universe that does not revolve around Greek or Roman mythology is Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard . Rick Riordan continued to branch out by exploring the world of Norse mythology. This series is more connected to Percy Jackson than The Kane Chronicles since its protagonist, Magnus Chase, is Annabeth Chase's cousin and the son of Frey. Plus, characters like Percy and Annabeth appear in some of the novels. It takes place following The Blood of Olympus .

Related: Disney's Percy Jackson Ending Plan Is Great News For Fans Of The Books

The Trials of Apollo

Rick Riordan conceived another pentalogy following the conclusion of The Heroes of Olympus . But instead of focusing on demigods, the author broke tradition and revolved his next book series around a Greek god. The Trials of Apollo takes place following The Heroes of Olympus and centers around Apollo , the god of the sun, music, and prophecy, who had been stripped of his godly powers and sent to Earth by his father, Zeus. There, the former god reluctantly embraces his new human identity (Lester Papadopoulos), befriends a demigod named Meg McCaffrey, and fights the Triumvirate.

The Trials of Apollo features numerous characters from the two previous Percy Jackson series, including the son of Poseidon himself. However, the focus is on Apollo and Meg. Additionally, it's worth noting that The Sun and the Star , published on May 2, 2023, is a standalone sequel to The Tower of Nero , the final book in The Trials of Apollo .

Iowa wrestling icon Spencer Lee qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics

The United States will be represented by a Hawkeye wrestler in the Olympics yet again, after Iowa wrestling icon Spencer Lee punched his ticket to Paris on Saturday.

Lee, a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa, qualified in Istanbul, Turkey, at the World Olympic Games qualifier.

Lee will be the 20th Olympian in Iowa Hawkeye wrestling history. Leslie Beers (1928) and Joe Scarpello (1948) were Olympic Team alternates, according to Iowa's record book. This will be the 23rd time a Hawkeye has made the Olympic team, with Chris Campbell (1980 and 1992), Randy Lewis (1980 and 1984) and Barry Davis (1984 and 1988) each making two appearances.

Lee had a four-match path to the Olympic Games. From the first match, Lee appeared locked in. Facing Morocco's Ben Tarik first, Lee looked several gears faster than his opponent by securing a go-behind takedown. He secured four leg laces on his way to a 10-0 technical fall in just 23 seconds.

In the round of 16, Lee drew the No. 1-seeded Wanhou Zou of China. Lee came out of the gate aggressively, but it cost him a two-point takedown early as Zou scored on a re-attack. After a pair of pushouts from Lee to tie it at two, Zou converted on a four-point feet-to-back takedown to take a 6-2 advantage. Lee would counter with a takedown and three leg laces to eventually hold on for a 10-9 result.

Lee's next match was against North Macedonia's Vladimir Egorov. Lee secured a go-behind takedown early in the first period and gut-wrenched his way to a 12-2 technical fall in just 54 seconds.

For his Olympic team spot, Lee faced Rakhat Kalzhan of Kazakhstan. Kalzhan is no slouch, having defeated NCAA champion Nick Suriano just last year.

Lee shot for the left leg of Kalzhan and earned a two-point takedown. He gut-wrenched his way to a 10-0 technical fall in 36 seconds to reach the Olympics.

In total, Lee wrestled just seven minutes and 53 seconds across four matches (24 possible regulation minutes). Take away the match against Zou, and it was 1:23 of match time.

Lee's qualification makes it three consecutive cycles a Hawkeye wrestler has represented the United States, all at 57 kilograms. Dating to 1980, Iowa has had at least one Olympian in 11 of the last 12 Olympic cycles, with 2012 being the lone year without a Hawkeye.

Lee, who was born in Colorado and grew up in Pennsylvania, follows newly appointed Oklahoma State assistant coach Thomas Gilman in 2020 and Hawkeye Wrestling Club coach Dan Dennis in 2016. Lee will look to become the 11th Hawkeye to win an Olympic medal and could make it back-to-back Olympic medals for Iowa at 57 kilograms after Gilman's bronze in Tokyo.

After Saturday’s performance, there is good reason to think that he could. There appeared to be zero limitations to Lee in his matches despite knee surgeries and previous injuries in recent years. He had an extra burst to him in Istanbul that looked even more explosive than his April US Olympic Trials run to earn the US Olympic Team bid. His strength in gut wrenches and leg laces made him look unbeatable at times.

After his victory, Lee credited the Iowa wrestling program and the coaching staff for helping him get here. One person in particular he thanked was NCAA finalist Drake Ayala, who made the trip to Turkey to help him train.

"We brought the whole squad here," Lee said to USA Wrestling . "I got a training partner in Drake Ayala that just came off the national tournament, he's obviously a great guy and he was there for me. It's awesome. There was other guys that would have been there for me if I needed it, that's just how it is. Iowa Hawkeye wrestling was, they were ready to prepare me in any way I needed."

Now Lee will pursue Olympic glory. While he is ecstatic for the opportunity to compete in France − where his mother, Carry, is from and where his parents met − he's staying laser-focused on what's next.

"It's great and all, but being an Olympian doesn't mean a whole lot unless you come back with that prized gold medal," Lee said to USA Wrestling.

Winning at the Olympic Trials in April wasn't enough to get Lee to the Olympics. That's because the United States did not have a top-five finish from any of its 57-kilogram wrestlers at the 2023 World Championships or finish second or better at the Pan-American Olympic qualifier. Lee had to finish third or better in Istanbul to clinch an Olympic bid.

The victory over Kalzhan ensured that Lee would be in the top three. Once a wrestler qualifies, they're done competing (i.e. there was no first-place match).

The wrestling portion of the Olympics will begin on Aug. 5 and conclude on Aug. 11. The men's freestyle division will begin on Aug. 8 at 4 a.m. CT and conclude on Aug. 9 in the early afternoon.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at  [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at  @EMcKown23

Appreciation: Olga Fikotova Connolly didn’t let East-West schism stop her Olympic-sized dreams

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In a couple of months, we will be saturated with Olympic feel-good stories. That’s a big part of why television networks pay enormous sums for the rights to telecast the Games. They call these vignettes “up close and personal.” In many cases, “overdone and gooey” might be a better description.

Most likely, the Paris Olympics won’t create a yarn as good as the one about Olga Fikotova and Harold Connolly. There was nothing overdone and gooey about their story during the 1956 Games in Melbourne. It was the stuff of international headlines and worldwide emotion, and it is revisited here because Olga died April 12 .

She was 91 and was preceded in death 14 years ago by Harold . Both spent much of their lives in and around Los Angeles.

Pat McCormick, Seal Beach diver who won Olympic gold in the 1950s, dies at 92

Pat McCormick, famed Seal Beach diver who won gold medals in the sport at the 1952 and 1956 Summer Olympic Games, has died at the age of 92.

March 10, 2023

She was 23 when she made the five-day, multi-airplane trip to Australia. She was 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, not the usual girth for an Olympian, male or female, in a throwing event. She was not among the favorites in the discus and had been a better athlete in basketball than track and field. A track coach had seen her athleticism and felt it would be best served as a discus thrower, despite her small build, and trained her as a rhythm thrower, not a muscle performer. For years, he had her toss the discus in practice to the background music of the Blue Danube Waltz. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm.

In 1956 , the Olympics were, among other things, an East-versus-West faceoff. Sadly, it was more than sports competition. Communist athletes and Western athletes were encouraged to stay separate and compete extra hard against one another. The famous “blood-on-the-water” water polo game between Hungary and the USSR capsulized the intensity of political and nationalistic emotion, even though both teams were part of the Soviet Bloc — Hungary not so willingly. Shortly before the match, the Soviet military had violently shut down the Hungarian Revolution. Emotions and anger poured over into the water polo game and when a Hungarian player left the pool with blood streaming down his face. The headline for the game was easy: Blood on the Water. Hungary won the game 4-0.

Olga’s Czechoslovakia was part of the Soviet bloc, but she was the only member of her team who had refused to sign on with the Communist party. In retrospect, that was classic Olga.

Once she got to Melbourne, Olga received much attention and technical help from better-known and bigger-medal prospects from Russia. They assumed she was one of them. Her discus competition was among the first in the Games, and when she got off her gold-medal toss of 176 feet and 1 inch, the Russians who had helped her, had to settle for the silver and bronze. Her winning toss was seven feet farther than her previous best.

She was celebrated in the Soviet bloc and it turned out that her gold was the only one taken in Melbourne by Czechoslovakia. She was a hero in her home country, until she wasn’t.

She told the story later about the immediate aftermath of her victory.

“I had a terrible blister on my foot and I had to compete in practice shoes,” she said. “Then, as soon as I was done competing, they took me off for surgery. My team went to the ocean in Australia, such a beautiful sight, and I had to sit on the beach while they went in the water. I had been told by my doctor to stay out of the water because of my foot. But as I sat there, an old man came up to me. I told him why I was sitting on the beach and not in the water. He said that was wrong and convinced me to go in. I did, and the next day, my foot was almost half healed.”

Somewhere between winning a gold medal, having surgery and going to the beach, Olga wandered into an equipment shed used by the discus, shot put, javelin and hammer competitors. Mingling with competitors from the West, especially male ones, was discouraged. But as would become evident soon, and for the rest of her life, Olga was never much of a click-her-heels and salute person.

So, there she was, in the equipment shed, and there was this husky American, Harold Connolly. And the rest became history, an Olympic story of Olympic proportions.

They fell in love. Harold won the hammer throw the day after Olga’s discus triumph, so they each had a gold medal and time on their hands. They danced the nights away in an Olympic Village where East and West mingling was discouraged and was mostly ignored by 20- to 25-year-olds. Somehow, worlds apart, they communicated, according to Olga “with my fragmented English and Harold’s fragmented German.”

There were pictures and stories and the whole world soon knew. The official stance in Czechoslovakia was that Olga had brought “50% honor to her country and 50% shame for taking up with “an American Facist.”

Harold proposed, Olga wished to get married in her home country and permission was granted when Czech Olympic legends Emil Zatopek and his wife, Dana Zatopkova, were listed as wedding witnesses. Zatopek had won three gold medals in distance races and Zatopkova had won agold in javelin, as well as many European competitions. Nobody said no to that superstar pair.

Olga had hoped for a small wedding in the Old Town Square in Prague. En route, her car was slowed many times and she thought there had been an accident. When she finally arrived, the center of Prague was packed. Estimates ran from 25,000 to 40,000 people, there to see her marry the handsome “American Facist.” Olympic columnist Randy Harvey, in an L.A. Times story in 1989, cited a New York Times’ editorial the day after the wedding, that read: “The H-Bomb overhangs us like a cloud of doom. The subway during rush hour is almost impossible to endure. But Olga and Harold are in love, and the world does not say no to them.”

The Connollys were immensely popular and immensely poor. After the wedding, Harold sold his hammer-throwing equipment to earn them enough to fly home. When they landed in Boston, near Harold’s home, they had 35 cents to their name and jobs were crucial. For a while, Olga cleaned the offices at the Boston Globe.

They eventually moved to Southern California. Olga, who had wanted to continue to compete for her home country, was not allowed to and ended up making four more Olympic teams for the United States. In her last Olympics, the Munich Games in 1972, she was elected to carry the flag at opening ceremonies. The U.S. team officials didn’t like that choice. Olga had been very clear and typically very loud about her anti-Vietnam War sentiments. The team officials asked for another team vote. The result was the same. Olga led the U.S. team into the stadium. Afterward, one of the U.S. officials praised her for the way she led her team in.

“I learned how to march in Czechoslovakia,” she replied, sarcastically.

Olga and Harold were married for 17 years. They had four children, Jimmy, Merja, Nina and Mark. Jimmy was a national college decathlon champion, Merja a world-class volleyball player and Mark a Golden Gloves boxer in Las Vegas. After Olga and Harold divorced, Olga told Harvey in a Times article that what they had as a couple was wonderful, but maybe not true love. She had wanted to move on. Harold set nine more world records in the hammer throw after they were married. They remained good friends and she stayed cordial with Harold’s new wife, Pat Daniels, who participated in three Olympics herself and became, as Pat Connolly, sprinter Evelyn Ashford’s coach.

Olga championed, many causes around Los Angeles . She was an advocate for fitness and proper nutrition. She worked for a time at a home for the elderly. She fought for literacy programs and wrote many letters to The Times, seeking publication after marching into the sports editor’s office to discuss her views. She was opinionated, sometimes off-putting, but never lacking passion or empathy.

She was fond of calling Melbourne “My Olympics,” and said, “All that was on my mind was to do something good for the Czech people. I wanted to do it for the streetcar driver who told me I didn’t have to pay when I got on, or the man at the newsstand who gave me a paper in the morning and said I didn’t have to pay.”

In her later years, Olga joked about what the Olympics had become. She laughed and said that the Games started in Greece with everybody training and competing naked, so that everybody was equal. “Now, they make everybody go through metal detectors.”

If TV tells the story of Olga Connolly this summer, it probably won’t use that quote.

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Bill Dwyre was a three-times-weekly sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times from 2006-15. Before that, he was sports editor of the paper for 25 years. Dwyre was named national editor of the year by the National Press Foundation in 1985 for the paper’s coverage of the ’84 Olympics and winner of the Red Smith Award in 1996 by the Associated Press Sports Editors for sustained excellence in sports journalism. He was sports editor of the Milwaukee Journal from 1973 to 1981, when he joined The Times. Dwyre was named National Headliner Award winner in 1985, sportswriter of the year in Wisconsin in 1980 and sportswriter of the year in California in 2009.

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IPL 2024 points table update: KKR book place in Qualifier 1, GT out of playoffs race after rain abandons their match

Ipl 2024 points table update: the two-time champions ensured their place in the top-two and will have two chances to make it to the final..

IPL Points Table 2024, Team Rankings:  Winners in their first IPL season and runner ups in the second, Gujarat Titans won’t be featuring in the playoffs in IPL 2024. The last home game for GT ended without a flip of the coin taking place at the Narendra Modi Stadium as bad weather led to the game being abandoned.

Their opponents, Kolkata Knight Riders on the other hand, remain at the top of the points table and have now confirmed a top-two spot in the league stage which means the two-time winners will be playing in Qualifier 1.

On Sunday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Delhi Capitals and moved up to the fifth spot in the standings. Winning their fifth game on the trot,  RCB  set up a potential knockout clash with  Chennai Super Kings  on May 18 in their final match of the league stage.

CSK went up to third in the  IPL points table after their 5-wicket win against Rajasthan Royals , also strengthening their position in the Play-off race.

IPL 2024 Points Table updated after GT vs KKR match

The playoff scenario.

KKR, RR, CSK and SRH are the four sides that are currently in the top four. The top four teams will qualify for the IPL  2024 playoffs. The top two teams will play in the first Qualifier with the winner going straight into the final. The Eliminator will be played between the teams who are placed third and fourth in the IPL 2024 standings. The winner of the Eliminator will lock horns against the losing team of Qualifier 1. The winner of the Qualifier  2 will enter the final, which will be held at May 26.

Next fixture in IPL 2024

• GT vs KKR Live Score, IPL 2024
• Wrestler Nisha's rise from darkness: From being bizarrely declared dead to finally being pulled out of abyss each step by Sakshi Malik
• Shyam Nikhil becomes India’s 85th GM: Incredible tale behind 12-year wait to earn the final norm

Up next, the Delhi Capitals will host the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Get latest updates on IPL 2024 from IPL Points Table to Teams , Schedule , Most Runs and Most Wickets along with live score updates for all matches. Also get Sports news and more cricket updates .

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The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5) Hardcover – May 5, 2009

• Book 5 of 7 Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• Print length 400 pages
• Language English
• Dimensions 6 x 1.25 x 8.63 inches
• Publisher Hyperion Books
• Publication date May 5, 2009
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002M3SOWO
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hyperion Books; First Edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9+ years, from customers
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 8.63 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #4,708,216 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books )

About the authors

Victo Ngai is a Los Angeles-based artist raised in Hong Kong. She is a Forbes 30 Under 30 (Art and Style) honoree, the first Chinese Hamilton King Award Winner, five times Society of Illustrators Gold Medalist and Hugo Award nominee.

Victo's work has often been described as magical realism. Each creation in Victo's world is layered with symbolism and stories that reveal more each time the viewer is engaged. The visual results of her artistic journey take inspiration in part from her Chinese heritage, an art education from the Rhode Island School of Design, a love for classic children's books, and Japanese ukiyo-e.

Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Kane Chronicles, and the Heroes of Olympus. He is also the author of the multi-award-winning Tres Navarre mystery series for adults.

For fifteen years, Rick taught English and history at public and private middle schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Texas. In 2002, Saint Mary's Hall honored him with the school's first Master Teacher Award.

While teaching full time, Riordan began writing mystery novels for grownups. His Tres Navarre series went on to win the top three national awards in the mystery genre - the Edgar, the Anthony and the Shamus. Riordan turned to children's fiction when he started The Lightning Thief as a bedtime story for his oldest son.

Today over 35 million copies of his Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus books are in print in the United States, and rights have been sold into more than 35 countries. Rick is also the author of The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, another #1 New York Times bestseller.

Rick Riordan now writes full-time. He lives in Boston with his wife and two sons.

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Readers reply: what could the Roman dodecahedron have been used for?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

A 12-sided, 1,700-year-old object with no known purpose was found in Lincolnshire last summer and has just gone on display at Lincoln Museum . What could it have been used for? Paul Elliott, by email

Send new questions to [email protected] .

Readers reply

It’s obviously something on which to hang your toga. Dorkalicious

The more fragile-coloured glass has long since smashed, but this was obviously a disco ball. ILikeChips

It looks like one of those things to measure different size portions of uncooked spaghetti. Did the Romans eat spaghetti? ArtyXerxes

Each of the holes is a different size. If you put the dodecahedron on to a pole that is broad at the bottom and narrow at the top, it will stop at various stages down the pole. These indicate months. The points on each face are made so that you can wrap a piece of string between two or more of the points. There are enough variations of this to indicate the day of the month. It is a calendar. Diana Mills

It would be interesting to know the diameters of the 12 holes and whether there was a relationship there. Otherwise I think it probably was just a nice lamp … tonimoroni1

The sizes of several of these objects are documented and available. For one example, diameters in millimetres are: 13.5, 14, 14, 15, 19, 20, 20, 22, 22, 22, 23, 24. The fact that there are two pairs, and a triplet, seems potentially significant. MyOtherNameIsReal

I saw a theory that it was for knitting glove fingers, from XL adult male to child. The person promoting that take 3D-printed a replica and made a pair of gloves on it. water_moon

Could it have been used by a Roman jewellery maker to measure finger sizes for rings? flightoftheheron

Filled with soil it was used for growing strawberries for Roman orgies. Tom Jones

They are tools used historically by fletchers to taper arrow shafts. Small enough to be carried around by an archer in the field. The knobs make them easier to grasp. AnnieLawrie

It could be a lantern that maybe an officer or a priest may have used. The 12 holes could represent the 12 Olympian gods. A lump of oil or fat soaked cloth would be placed in the bottom hole and lit. The balls on the outside would enable the dodecahedron to be picked up. Mark Thomas

Given the difficulty of assembly and the number of variables involved I would suggest an apprentice piece. I made a variety of pieces myself as an apprentice that would baffle future generations. They had no purpose apart from showing my instructors that I could accomplish the task set. TazTarr

The most persuasive theory on this I’ve seen so far comes from this knitter who believes they were used to knit gold chains. hureharehure

It looks like a puzzle toy made for a toddler. They would need to work out which shapes fit in which hole. Lydfordvegan

Perhaps the object of the game was to put 12 similarly sized balls in the holes with none falling out. The first and largest ball would be easy enough, but each subsequent ball would make it harder to keep them all contained. The game may have been timed to see which player could complete the goal quickest. Michael Johnston

If they are assumed to have a single purpose, then one relating to the zodiac is the most likely, given that an example was found in excavation near to the Cathedral of Saint-Pierre in Geneva in 1982, with the signs of the zodiac engraved on the faces of the dodecahedron. Prehistorian

A divination device. Put a mid-sized ball inside. Throw the dodecahedron. It has a 50/50 chance of falling out. And which one it falls out of makes the prediction. kanimoto

Gaming or divination would leave evidence of marks or damage when it was thrown or rolled. There isn’t any of that sort of damage on more than 100 found so far, yet the metal was relatively soft. The pictured one is made of a bronze-type alloy with a high lead content. That makes it easier to work, more malleable and melting at a lower temperature, but also more vulnerable to damage if it’s dropped or rolled. leadballoon

It serves no practical purpose but looks intriguing. It is therefore something made by and for cats. TravelinJones

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Brittney Griner, in new memoir, says Putin weaponized her Blackness

WNBA star and Olympian Brittney Griner writes that she felt she was being used as a “pawn” by Russian President Vladimir Putin when she was arrested and imprisoned just weeks before he invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The Phoenix Mercury star’s memoir “Coming Home,” which debuted Tuesday at No. 1 on Amazon’s best-sellers list, lays out in detail the events leading up to her arrest, the challenges of her nearly 10-month detainment in some of Russia’s most notorious penal colonies, the agony of waiting to be released — and so much more, all in 300 pages. In one section, she describes the experience of being a Black gay woman in a Russian prison under Putin. 

“Black lives matter,” Griner wrote. “We hear that in the streets, but what is a Black life really worth? Judging by our history, it seems not much, and even less if you’re gay. For Putin, my worth was as a pawn. My arrest gave him leverage in his clash with the West. He was well aware of America’s long history of racial tensions, and he knew how to use that to his benefit.”

In February 2022, Griner traveled to Russia to play her eighth season in the country’s women’s basketball league. She was arrested after two vials of cannabis oil, totaling less than a gram, were found in her luggage at the airport in Moscow. She pleaded guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to nine years in prison. 

Griner wrote that she was distressed about having disappointed her closely knit family and Black people in general. 

When the news of her arrest broke, Griner wrote: “I cried because I’d let down my father. The Griner name was now stained around the globe: dopehead, drug dealer, dumb. I hurt because I knew I’d handed the world a weapon. When you’re Black, your behavior is never just about you. It’s about your entire community.” 

Though she said she wears her Blackness with pride, Griner said she felt as though her actions “shamed my people.”

“Blackness doesn’t make you less, but it does frame your life,” she wrote. “When you walk into a room, so does race. Frankly, it shows up before you do. It colors every conversation, shapes how you’re viewed, determines whether you’re even heard. From the day you get here, Blackness hangs over everything, from comments about your hair (‘Can I touch it?’) to mentions that certain Black people are ‘smart’ (’cause it’s assumed we’re idiots). The message comes through loud and clear: You’re not one of us, you’re less.”

It was so bad that Griner said she contemplated suicide in the early days of incarceration. She wrote that she’d spend her nights “listing ways I could end my misery.” She thought better of it. And after many sleepless nights, she stopped caring about the freezing temperatures, that her long legs dangled off the mattress and that the bed springs poked into her body. “I was a legit zombie,” she said.  

By the time Griner was allowed to shower there, she was shocked at the repulsive conditions, but knew she had to get in the water. 

“In the WNBA, my teammates and I joked about the prison showers — a big space with spouts spread around. This was the real thing,” she wrote. “It was nasty, exposed pipes on every wall. Long hair strands all over the tile floor and gathered in the drains. A bloody tampon was tucked between two pipes. As much as I was disgusted by the scene, I was just as repulsed by my stench.”

Correctional Colony No. 1, also known as IK-1, is a former orphanage converted into a prison about 50 miles from Moscow, which would take about two hours to drive in Russia’s notorious traffic. Griner had spent the time being transported there handcuffed, with her 6-foot-9 frame folded in the back of a vehicle not equipped for someone her height. She was also deeply afraid, not knowing what to expect, but knowing that where she was headed was no place anyone would want to be.

When there, she received myriad instructions before making it to the shower. 

“I undressed and found the cleanest part of the floor,” she wrote. “I turned the faucet on, and rusty brown water came spouting out.”

Once she got over the color, “hot water felt so good on my skin. I closed my eyes tight, trying to forget where I was. I thought of Relle [her wife] and home and all I had left behind. Down the water slid from my dreads onto the floor splashing away the hell I endured. I stayed in there a good 30 minutes until I banged on the door for the guard to let me out. That was the nastiest shower I’d ever taken. It was also the best.”

She wrote about her increased fear when transferred to an even more notorious labor camp, Correctional Colony No. 2 or IK-2, 300 miles east of Moscow. It was known for “horrid conditions, hard labor and inmate torture,” Griner wrote. And temperatures that dipped to 5 below zero. 

“When I entered IK-2, I flipped a switch in my head. I was an inmate now , I told myself.”

She worked all day, making military uniforms, shoveling snow, breaking up ice. 

At IK-2, “I had been frozen, sick, got my hair chopped off. The girl I was lay on a heap of dreads on a concrete floor. … At a labor camp in Russia in the dead of winter, I learned how tough I was.”

Tough, but battered. The experience left her with bouts of “depression, with long stretches of silence and heartache.” One thing that helped her push through the depression and realities of incarceration, she said, were the uplifting letters from family and friends, as well as the mail she received from strangers. Now that she’s returned to the U.S., she’s back to playing for the Mercury. She’s also seeing a therapist. 

The Biden administration negotiated a trade for her release in December 2022 : Griner would be released in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death.” Before freedom, she experienced one last humiliation: Russian guards ordering her to strip naked as they took photos. 

“I didn’t cover my privates, nor did I cower or tremble,” she wrote. “I sense they expected me to fall apart. ... I stood tall. . . I felt like weeping, but I had no tears left.” 

She wrote that she keeps one remaining vow: “I will not rest until Paul Whelan is released,” she said of the former Marine who has been detained in Russia since 2018 on accusations of spying. The U.S. denies the charges.

For more from NBC BLK,  sign up for our weekly newsletter .

Curtis Bunn is an Atlanta-based journalist for NBC BLK who writes about race.

Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi is ‘tickled pink’…

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Olympian kristi yamaguchi is ‘tickled pink’ to inspire a barbie doll, yamaguchi became the first asian american to win an individual figure skating gold medal at the 1992 winter olympics..

This image provided by Mattel in April 2024 shows the company’s Kristi Yamaguchi Barbie doll. Yamaguchi became the first Asian American to win an individual gold medal for figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics. (Mattel via AP)

This photo provided by Mattel in April 2024 shows Kristi Yamaguchi with the company’s Barbie doll based on the figure skater. Yamaguchi became the first Asian American to win an individual gold medal for figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics. (Mattel via AP)

FILE – Kristi Yamaguchi of the U.S. skates in the free skating portion of the women’s figure skating competition at the XVI Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France on Friday, Feb. 21, 1992. The Fremont, Calif., woman won the women’s gold medal. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File)

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. With a schedule packed with ice skating practices, her Barbie dolls became her “best friends.”

So, it’s surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself.

“It’s a huge, huge honor. I think a lot of pride comes along with it, not just recognizing the Olympic achievement, but also being recognized during AAPI Month and following in the footsteps of some incredible women that I idolize — Anna May Wong , Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks,” Yamaguchi told The Associated Press. “It’s hard to see me put in the category with them.”

Yamaguchi, who became the first Asian American to win an individual figure skating gold medal, at the 1992 Winter Olympics, has been immortalized as a doll for Barbie’s “Inspiring Women Series,” Mattel announced Wednesday. The release is timed for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, in May.

This isn’t Yamaguchi’s first doll depiction. In the ’90s, touring show Stars on Ice put out a line of dolls modeled after notable skaters. The Barbie version is a lot more detailed.

Mattel duplicated everything the then 20-year-old medalist wore at the Olympics in Albertville, France: the sparkling black-and-gold brocade outfit designed by Lauren Sheehan, the gold hair ribbon and even a red-and-white bouquet like Yamaguchi held atop the podium.

Yamaguchi said both she and Sheehan are “just so tickled pink.”

She also is happy with the doll’s visage.

“It looks like me for sure. You know, the eyes and just the shape of the face. And then, of course, the hair, for sure. I mean, it has the bangs that are the ’90s,” Yamaguchi said, chuckling.

She appreciates that the doll’s release comes on the high heels of the blockbuster “Barbie” movie last year. Her daughters, ages 18 and 20, are fans of the Oscar-nominated film. Their initial reaction to their mother being a Barbie? Disbelief.

“When they found out I was getting a doll, they were kind of flabbergasted and being like, ‘What? Like Mom, like how do you qualify? But that’s way too cool for you,’” Yamaguchi said.

When Yamaguchi became a household name in the ’90s, most Asian American children were growing up feeling like toys-aren’t-us kids. If you were an Asian parent looking for an Asian doll in the U.S., you likely turned to independent mail-order companies or waited until you were visiting your country of heritage.

Since then, the toy market has evolved somewhat with big companies like Mattel diversifying and independent entrepreneurs filling the void. Two Asian doll lines — Jilly Bing and Joeydolls — launched within the last year, one by an Asian American mother and the other by an Asian Canadian mother. Both could not find dolls that looked like their daughters.

Sapna Cheryan, a professor of psychology at the University of Washington who served a year on Mattel’s Barbie Global Advisory Council in 2018, said Asian Americans have long dealt with two stereotypes: the model-minority whiz kid or the perpetual foreigner. Toys can help dispel those myths, and instead signal acceptance and inclusivity.

Dolls modeled after real people can get people talking about their human counterparts. Cheryan applauded Barbie’s choice of Yamaguchi.

“There are so many Asian American athletes but they’re just not propped up in a way that athletes of other racial groups are,” said Cheryan, who researches cultural stereotypes and their impact on race and gender disparities. “Having a match in terms of racial identification or gender or both,” she said, is important in creating effective role models for kids.

Mattel has mostly garnered praise for its diversity efforts but it’s had some missteps along the way. In 2021, the toy maker said it “fell short” by failing to include an Asian doll in a line of Tokyo Olympics-themed Barbies. In January, there was some backlash to Asian “You Can Be Anything” Barbies that seemed stereotypical. One was a violinist and the other a doctor in panda scrubs.

Tying Yamaguchi to Barbie, a symbol of American pop culture, is especially remarkable considering what she and her family have dealt with as Japanese Americans. She has spoken about how her maternal and paternal grandparents were forced into U.S. incarceration camps in response to Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

When she captured the gold over 50 years later, media coverage partially focused on why she didn’t seem to have many endorsement deals. In an AP article from 1992 , a sports advertising executive blamed her Japanese heritage, citing an economic climate that was anti-Japan. “It’s wrong, wrong, wrong, but that is the way it is,” the executive said.

So while Barbie may seem like just a toy, it’s so much more for Yamaguchi.

“When kids see themselves or see someone who inspires them, then it just opens up their world and their imagination to what’s possible,” she said.

Tang is a Phoenix-based member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow her on X at @ttangAP .

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