The Marion Jones Sports Complex, previously the National Stadium, is a multi-use

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize. It was once the capital city, capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2022 census, Belize City has a population of 63,999 people. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, which is a ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. It is used mostly for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

matches, track and field and cycling. The stadium holds 7,500. It is named after former track athlete of Belizean descent,

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track-and-field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 ...

History

The National Stadium was established sometime in the 1960s as a venue for horse racing, football and cycling. The Cross Country Cycling Classic and other such events often finished with laps around the cycle track, originally sand and later asphalt. A famous murder, that of Derek "Itza" Brown, took place on its grounds in 1992. Eventually, the stadium was upgraded to its present condition, with planned expansion and conversion to a domed stadium expected. After her visit to Belize in 2001 at the height of her success following the Sydney Olympics, the stadium was named after Jones. The naming became controversial after Jones had was stripped of all five of her Olympic medals due to taking performance-enhancing drugs. In 2009 the country announced plans to spend $14 million to refurbish the facility. In 2021

Great Belize Television Great Belize Television, or as it is locally known, Channel 5, is a Belize City-based local television station established in December 1991. Channel 5 airs mostly American and Caribbean programs, as well as a variety of locally produced programs. ...

reported that the stadium was "in a state of disrepair".

References

Football venues in Belize City Athletics (track and field) venues in Belize

Buildings and structures in Belize City {{Belize-sports-venue-stub