Mark French

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**Mark French**
Personal information
Full name	Mark French
Date of birth	October 13, 1984 (1984-10-13) (age 23)
Country	Australia
Team information
Discipline	Track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Amateur team(s)
	St Kilda
Infobox last updated on:
5 April 2008

Mark French (born 13 October 1984) is an Australian sprint cyclist. He started cycling competitivley relativley late at the age of 15, in 1999. Born in Melbourne, Victoria, French now resides in Elwood, Victoria.

French is most recognised for the 2004 scandal where he was accused of taking drugs, after cleaners found syringes and phials outside his boarding room at the Australian Institute of Sport, which he was alleged to have shared with a number of team mates. 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 In July 2005, French was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport due to lack of evidence, they also rescinded his lifetimeban from competing at the Olympics,^[1] but this clearing came too late, as he missed his target of competing at the Athens Olympics. ^[2]

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." ^[3] After failing to qualify for the 2006 Commonwealth Games, French's target is now the 2008 Beijing Olympics.