**Retired US baseball star Mark McGwire has admitted using steroids during his career, including when he broke the sport’s home run record in 1998.**He said he had used steroids on and off for nearly a decade and he apologised.
The confession by McGwire, who played for the St Louis Cardinals, follows a similar steroid admission by the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez in 2009.
The Cardinals announced in October that McGwire, 46, would be its hitting coach for the 2010 season.
“I used steroids during my playing career and I apologise,” McGwire said in a statement published on the Major League Baseball (MLB) website.
"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.”
Correspondents say McGwire’s reputation has been in question since 2005, when he refused to answer questions on illegal drug use at a Congressional hearing.
During the hearing he repeatedly said he was “not here to talk about the past” when asked whether he took illegal steroids when he hit the then-record 70 home runs in 1998 or at any other time.