Mark French

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark French (born 1984) is an Australian sprint cyclist.

French is most recognised for the 2004 scandal where he was accused of taking drugs found in his hotel room, which he was alleged to have shared with a number of teammates. Early that year, he was banned from cycling for two years after he was found to have taken and trafficked corticosteroid and equine growth hormone. In July 2005, French was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport but this clearing came too late, as he missed his target of competing at the Athens Olympics. ^[1]

French returned to training on December 10, 2005, almost two years after his original sentence was handed down. He expressed anger at the cycling world and said "It wasn't until after the day after the decision got handed down with the appeal that I started enjoying life." ^[2] After failing to qualify for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, French's target is now the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

[edit] References

1. ^ Mal Sawford, Cycling Newsflash for 21 January, 2006, Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 10 December, 2006.
2. ^ Ryan, Melissa. French making up for lost time, The Age, December 9, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006.