Doping on Ice

Ice-fishing community leaders, aiming for official Olympics recognition as a sport, began by asking the World Anti-Doping Agency to randomly test its “athletes” for performance-enhancing drugs, according to a February New York Times item. The chairman of the U.S. Freshwater Fishing Association said, “We do not test for beer” because “everyone would fail.” Ice-fishing is a lonely, frigid endeavor rarely employing strength, mostly requiring guile and strategy, as competitors who discover advantageous fishing spots must surreptitiously bring up their catch lest competitors rush over to drill their own holes. Urine tests have been run in recent years on competitors in darts, miniature golf, chess and tug-of-war. In 2011, one chess player, two minigolfers and one tugger tested positive.