Judging by the deserted stands at the Tajikistan/Turkmenistan football match in the AFC Challenge Cup opening round, all eyes are already focused on the Beijing Olympics as the ultimate sporting and political event of the year. As with many other delegations, the Tajik Olympic team left for Beijing today. Fourteen athletes qualified:

Dilshod Nazarov (hammer throwing), Galina Mityayeva (track and field athletics), judo players Rasoul Boqiyev, Sherali Bozorov and Nematullo Asronqulov, free-style wrestlers Yusuf Abdusalomov and Vitaly Koryakin, boxers Anvar Yunusov, Jahon Qurbonov and Sherali Dostiyev, swimmers Yekaterina Izmaylova and Alisher Chingizov, female archer Albina Kamolitdinova, and weightlifter Nizom Sangov.

14 Olympians is no small feat for a small country, but the talk surrounding Tajikistan’s participation isn’t purely athletic. A few months ago, Ambassador of Tajikistan to China Rashid Alimov not only wrote a best-selling “teen novel” about a Tajik youth traveling to the games, but also gave an interview to the official website of the Beijing games. With the political disection of the Olympic games reaching a fevered pitch, some quotes are particularly interesting- like this question on the internet- in revealing both China’s need to be recognized as a world power and Tajikistan’s eagerness to take advantage of the bilateral relationship:

Host: …The internet has developed in a big way in China and across the globe. It has not only changed people’s lives but has also changed the way the Olympics are being promoted. Sohu has become the Internet sponsor of the Games, which has never happened before in Olympic history. Do people in Tajikistan have easy access to the Internet? How do you and your family use the Internet to promote the Beijing Olympics.

Rashid Alimov: The internet has become a part of people’s lives. In the past, news was spread through the post offices and horses, then by trains, planes, and telegraphs. And now the Internet. Of course, this has had a huge impact on the telecommunications industry. These days it is hard to imagine life without the Internet. The internet provides fast access to quality information. The internet is developing in Tajikistan in leaps and bounds, just as it is in China.

But some problems are inevitable. Ninety-three percent of our territory is mountainous, which poses an obstacle. And internet access is still expensive. But these things will get better as the Internet develops.

Many Internet cafes and most colleges in my country provide free Internet access.

As for having an Internet sponsor for the Olympics, I think it is a sign of the times. As I said before, our website has an Olympic column, which I think is wise. It shows our respect for the Games and our intention to promote the ideals of the Olympics. In order to let people know about the preparatory work, we included our Internet address on the back of the book. This is a small contribution to the large amount of work you are doing.

Of course, Chinese censorship is left out of the discussion and the focus is instead on the commercial power of the internet. Maybe a Chinese sponsored rural computer training program though? What if all the users promise to only say good things about the Olympics?

Check back for more quotes from the full interview (read for yourself here) as the Olympics approach and hopefully some excerpts from the “teen novel” book…