For many athletes, the risks of weight loss are afterthoughts.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Susan Miller Degnan and Linda Robertson

MIAMI _ Fred Funk, 5-8 and 165 pounds, has a ``body by Haagen-Dazs'' and a golf stroke good enough for the PGA Tour. But he'll take his ice cream sans diet pills.

Randy Romero, former 5-3, 109-pound jockey, has a body ravaged by years of desperate weight-reducing methods, including diet pills, hours in the sauna, diuretics and vomiting.

``You take the risk because you love the game,'' said Romero, 44, who has liver and kidney failure and undergoes dialysis three times a week. ``You have dreams to do great things. You think you're unbreakable.

``I knew I was messing up my body, but I felt it was worth it. I'm paying for it now.''

Steve Bechler of the Baltimore Orioles took the ultimate risk _ and paid for it with his life on Feb. 17. Bechler, a 23-year-old pitcher who wanted to lose weight, died after taking the stimulant Xenadrine RFA-1. The over-the-counter product contains ephedra, which aids in weight loss and, according to the Broward Medical Examiner's office, probably combined with other factors to contribute to Bechler's heatstroke and ultimate death.

``He was trying to make it and he sacrificed everything,'' lamented Romero, who earned millions before he retired but could die soon if he doesn't receive new organs. ``There's an obsession with weight in this country.''