BULK IN A BOTTLE MORE AND YOUNGER ATHLETES TAKING SHORTCUTS, AND A RISK.(Sports)

Mark McGwire's record-setting home run race made 1998 a banner year for baseball and sports in general.

But it also made it a banner year for an issue far more serious and potentially devastating: athletes using performance-enhancing substances to build bigger and stronger bodies.

McGwire's admission that he used two supplements, creatine and androstenedione or ``andro,'' suddenly put new light on a decades-old battle to stem the use of anabolic steroids and other so-called ergogenic aids in athletic competition.

With McGwire's admission has come a new set of concerns:

That more young athletes will attempt to use supplements as a way of improving performance, fitness and recovery from injuries, instead of building body strength naturally.

That the supplements will be lumped together and considered to be medically sound simply because they are available over the counter or via mail order.

That policies such as the University of Washington's to administer creatine to athletes might some day create great liability if medical complications are found in the future.

That while creatine is currently considered medically safe, andro is considered to be an anabolic steroid that can lead to several potentially life-threatening diseases. Linking the two and using both without proper medical supervision could prove dangerous.

While McGwire will go down in the history books as the unqualified home run champion for a single season, other athletes who used similar substances last year faced far different repercussions.

Most recently, Petr Korda was forced to forfeit his rankings points and $94,529 in prize money from Wimbledon after the International Tennis Federation found he tested positive for an anabolic steroid. His attempt to defend his 1998 Australian Open title ended over the weekend, but his appearance stirred controversy among his fellow players, who question how Korda could have been allowed to compete.

Despite warnings from the medical community and ethical questions about unfair competition, athletes like McGwire and Korda are big-name indicators that supplements have become ingrained at all levels in the world of athletics.

``We can easily blame ourselves and society for putting …