Baseball star McGwire 'used steroids'

The retired baseball legend Mark McGwire has admitted to using steroids during his career, which included his record-breaking home run season in 1998.

The former Oakland Athletics and St Louis Cardinals star addressed long-held suspicions about his achievements, by confessing that he had used performance-enhancing products throughout the 1990s.

McGwire, 46, said that he had turned to drugs in the hope that they would help him to recover from injuries faster.

"I used steroids during my playing career and I apologise," McGwire said in a statement.

"I remember trying steroids very briefly in the 1989-1990 offseason and then after I was injured in 1993, I used steroids again.

"I used them on occasion throughout the 90s, including during the 1998 season. I wish I had never touched steroids."

He added: "It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologise. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era."

In 1998 McGwire and Sammy Sosa, the former Chicago Cubs hitter, vied to break Roger Maris's single-season home-run record of 61.

Sosa ended with 66 and McGwire hit 70 for the Cardinals. The pair were credited with helping to "save" baseball after the 1994-95 players' strike.

McGwire retired in 2001 and his tally was beaten that year by Barry Bonds, of the San Francisco Giants, who hit 73.