MARCO
MANNUCCI
02OWG26 · OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES MILANO CORTINA 2026SAN SIRO · MILAN

FROM ACTIVE STADIUM
TO OLYMPIC STAGE.

Deputy Site Manager for GL events Live on the Olympic Opening Ceremony venue: an active football stadium, a temporary rehearsal village, a compressed possession window and a reverse operation that had to give the stadium — and the park — back.

Aerial view of San Siro during Milano Cortina 2026
ROLEDeputy Site Manager
OPERATING WINDOW17 days full exclusive Olympic possession
PEAK ENVIRONMENT~3,000 workforce & cast
DELIVERY NETWORK100+ companies / contractors

San Siro could not simply be handed over months in advance. It remained a living football stadium. Olympic work therefore developed through phased access, soft fit-out and parallel preparation until the final match released the building into a very short period of exclusive possession.

The venue operation had to connect construction, temporary infrastructure, contractors, security, logistics, ceremonies, broadcast, hospitality and stadium interfaces — while respecting the reality that the building had another life before and immediately after the Games.

“By the final phase, we had become a machine. The venue looked different from morning to evening.”
700+programme activities / milestones
24/7accelerated final operating phase
~€9MGL scope managed / coordinated
31 MARParco dei Capitani restored on schedule
01

Parco dei Capitani / Build

An empty grass area became a rehearsal village: roads, temporary structures, commodities, toilets, utilities and services. Work moved through rain, cold, ice and mud until cast rehearsals could begin in December.

02

San Siro / Accelerate

Soft fit-out ran while football continued. Exclusive possession began after the late-January match and the operation shifted to 24/7. Trucks, contractors, rehearsals, BOH/FOH/FOP changes and venue readiness compressed into days.

03

Ceremony / Reset

The Opening Ceremony took place on 6 February. Reverse operations started immediately: dismantling, restoration and the race to return the stadium to football use in ex-ante condition.

04

Parco dei Capitani / Restore

The rehearsal village disappeared. Temporary infrastructure was removed; the park was levelled, reseeded and handed back on 31 March as scheduled.

The visible moment was the ceremony. The operational project was larger: make space available at the right time, transform it safely, support the live event, then remove the event without leaving the venue trapped inside it.

PHASED HANDOVERTEMPORARY INFRASTRUCTURECONTRACTOR COORDINATIONVENUE READINESSLIVE DELIVERYRESET & REINSTATEMENT
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