BRIEFLY NEW WAYS SOUGHT TO BAR DRUG CHEATS.

Byline: - Daily News Staff and Wire Services

U.S. Olympic officials hope to use a clause in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's rules to bar athletes who acknowledge the use of steroids and other banned substances, including in grand-jury testimony.

The U.S. Olympic Committee wants to make sure it doesn't have a public- relations disaster on its hands during the Aug. 13-29 Athens Games.

``Our image is going to be just fine if we send a clean team,'' acting USOC president Bill Martin said Monday.

Martin and other Olympic officials would love access to grand-jury transcripts in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative case involving the alleged distribution of steroids to top athletes.

While such grand-jury proceedings are secret by law, the Senate Commerce Committee issued a subpoena for the BALCO testimony and that could override the secrecy provision, according to one expert.

--Nine out of every 10 people in an Associated Press poll cited the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs by Olympic athletes as a problem, with 43 percent of those surveyed calling it a major problem.

Also more than half, meanwhile, say they think the Olympics will be disrupted by a terrorist attack, and four out of 10 believe American athletes are more likely to be the targets of such an attack than athletes from other countries.

FOOTBALL: Longtime coach Foster Anderson, the only person to serve on the staffs of USC, UCLA and the Rams and a former Cal State Northridge assistant, died in Mission Hills after a long illness. He was 64.

--USC received the first commitment for its 2005 recruiting class from kicker Troy Van Blarcom of Orange Lutheran High.

BASKETBALL: Houston Comets guard Ukari Figgs retired, ending a five-year WNBA career. She was a starter on the Sparks' championship team in 2001.

MOTOR SPORTS: Bruno Junqueira will return to the Indianapolis 500 with Newman/Haas Racing. The May 30 race will be the only Indy Racing League effort this season for Newman/Haas Racing.

ETC.: American soccer goalkeeper Tim Howard was rewarded for an impressive season with Manchester United when he was named to the English Premier League's Team of the Year. ... Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe will defend his 400-meter freestyle title at the Athens Olympics after teammate Craig Stevens withdrew from the event to clear a spot for Thorpe.