Belize is spending US$14 million to transform its national arena that was named after United States sprinter Marion Jones.

The stadium was renamed for Jones after she carried a Belize flag on a lap of honour after winning one of her five medals, which included three gold, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Although Jones was born in Los Angeles, her mother is Belizean, and Jones' success was the closest that Belize, who debuted at the Olympics at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, had ever come to winning a medal.

But the Olympic glory was tarnished when Jones was forced to forfeit the three gold and two bronze medals she won in 2000 after she admitted taking banned performance-enhancing drugs.

She also served six months in prison for lying to FBI officers about her a role in a cheque scam that her then boyfriend, former world 100 metres record holder Tim Montgomery, was behind.

Jones was once considered a national hero for her athletic achievements, but many Belizeans called for the Marion Jones stadium to be renamed after her drug and fraud charges.

The Belizean Government has so far ignored these calls and is going ahead with re-development plans for the stadium which will include a Fifa-standard football pitch and a top-level track and field facility.

Elvin Penner, Belize's sports minister, said: “One of the most important parts of this contract is the track and field, which is very much what the Marion Jones was known for. So I believe that will still be quite fitting for us to be doing this project being that it’s the Marion Jones Stadium.”