Ashleigh Barty to stay outside Olympic Village, Australian team boss hopes alternative accommodation will boost Barty's bid for gold

Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty is gearing up for her Olympic debut at the upcoming Tokyo Games. But the Australian World No. 1 will not be staying in the Olympic village alongside most other athletes.

Instead, she will live outside the village, with Australian team boss Ian Chesterman confident that the alternative arrangements will boost her bid for the gold medal.

"Ash is staying elsewhere. We have a number of athletes staying outside the village. We allow that, it's just what works best for them," Chesterman told reporters.

Although Barty is living outside the village, she still has access to it. In fact, she dropped by the Australian team's base for a coffee on Tuesday morning.

“She is staying in an Australian environment where she can still easily access the village,” Chesterman said.

"Something I've always been very big on is driving performance takes a whole lot of flexible decisions and flexible options. In terms of her performance plan, it's best served by her being able to control her environment and we respect that," he added.

Barty recently won the Wimbledon Championships

Staying outside the athletes' village is not out of the norm. Players and teams have often done so in the past, but this year, there are a lot of complexities due to the tight protocols in place to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The Olympics has already been rocked by a number of positive cases amongst athletes and organizers. Australia's Alex de Minaur tested positive for the virus before traveling to Tokyo. He was forced to pull out of the competition, hampering Australia's medal hopes in the men's singles category.

American sensation Coco Gauff was also forced to pull out of the Games after she tested positive for the virus just a couple of days ago.

Ashleigh Barty gunning for Olympic gold

Barty will be looking to become just the third indigenous Australian to win a gold medal at the Olympics.

Earlier this month, she became the first indigenous Australian woman since Evonne Goolagong Cawley to win the Wimbledon Championships when she defeated Karolina Pliskova in a tight three-set final.

With the win, she secured her second Grand Slam crown and her fourth title in 2021.

Given her recent form, Barty will undoubtedly be one of the favorites to win the gold medal in Tokyo. But she will have her task cut out, with the likes of Naomi Osaka, Aryna Sabalenka, Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova also part of a stacked field.