Australian sprinter Mia Gross ambassador for Cobden and Mortlake gifts

The Australian sprinter will return to her roots as the ambassador for the 2023 Cobden Gift and Mortlake Gift - new events on the calendar - on October 14 and 15.

Gross, who is eyeing the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, said she was excited to run junior clinics, take part in guest speaking roles and immerse herself in the two communities.

"I love all the VAL meets, always have. I've been racing in them since I was 15 years old," she told The Standard.

"I just love the atmosphere of racing against other people and just having the opportunity of chasing people down or people chasing you.

"It is something so different to on the track where everyone starts equally - there is something nice about chasing someone (on grass where handicaps are used) and you get a lot of satisfaction if you catch them or hold them off.

"You have your favourites when you line up to each other but with those VAL meets, you just don't know - anybody can win."

Gross, 22, will pay close attention to one athlete in particular this weekend - younger sister Willow, 12.

"She is more of a distance runner but she's going to have a go at the sprints on the weekend - hopefully they don't penalise her (with her handicap) too much since she's my sister," she joked.

Gross had hoped to compete at the Cobden and Mortlake competitions too but will instead be relegated to the sidelines after a busy two-month stint competing in Europe, including one Diamond League meeting.

"I was keen to have a little run so early (in the Australian) season but I've just come back from Europe and my coach and I decided it's a little bit too early for me unfortunately," she said.

Gross said she had success in Europe with wins and personal best times which came as a surprise after a six-month layoff due to a back injury followed by a hamstring setback.

"I didn't think I was going to go too well because I'd just come off a fractured back but I ended up doing a lot better than I thought I was going to do which was a win," she said.

"I did one Diamond League (competition) so hopefully next year I get to do a couple more because it was pretty insane, pretty cool.

"The crowd was just crazy."

The Melbourne-based Gross, who grew up in Torquay and now trains in Collingwood, won a bronze medal as part of Australia's 4x100 metre relay team at last year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

An Olympic debut in France is her next major goal with the 100m and 200m sprints her aim.

"All my eyes are on the Olympics next year so I am focusing heavily on that," Gross said.

"I am trying to do as much race prep as I can and race competitions, just to try and qualify.

"It is my first winter season without being injured so I am very hopeful and putting all my eggs into the Olympics basket."

The Cobden Gift is on Saturday with the two premier races - the women's 100m gift and men's 100m gift - at 5.17pm and 5.27pm respectively.

Mortlake's premier gift races will be contested across 120m on Sunday with the women's final at 3.40pm and the men's at 3.50pm.

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