Innovation in Motion since 1976

“Sport plays a fundamental role in our everyday wellbeing. Enjoying movement and staying active are essential to feeling good, both physically and mentally, while also creating connections between people. That is precisely why, at Decathlon, our mission is clear: to break down the barriers to sport, bring people together, and make wellbeing accessible to everyone.

At Decathlon, creativity, an entrepreneurial spirit and the courage to try are fundamental human qualities that make us stronger. This drive to innovate has been part of our DNA since we began in 1976. It comes to life through products that have genuinely changed people’s everyday lives. From the 2 Seconds tent and the Easybreath mask to the Rollnet and, more recently, an electronic airbag, every invention has been designed to make life simpler and physical activity more enjoyable.

But innovation is not just about inventing new products. It is also about reimagining the way people experience sport, inspiring everyone to get moving. Our real challenge is to adapt to real life : to every body, every age and every ability. Sport should adapt to people, not the other way around.

To turn the right ideas into reality, we rely on our greatest strength: our People. Innovation is part of the DNA of all our 103,000 teammates, with 1,700 women and men whose daily mission is to innovate. At Decathlon, innovation is first and foremost a deeply collective adventure, driven by passionate teams. Its strength comes from working together, bringing different disciplines into conversation and combining diverse, highly specialised expertise, from designers and engineers to scientists and sports experts.

And this energy knows no borders. By collaborating across many countries, our teams learn from their differences and inspire one another. It is this mosaic of talent, united by a shared passion, that enables us to imagine the solutions of tomorrow. Working hand in hand, they share one ambition: to put creativity and common sense at the service of everyone’s wellbeing.”

Sébastien Dollet
Head of Global Innovation, Decathlon International

50 years of innovation

From science to industry, from products to services, innovation continues to expand its playing field. The objective remains rooted in the idea that started Decathlon in 1976: remove the barriers to movement and explore how sport can help more people feel better, physically, mentally and socially.

Born from a different idea of sport

Innovation has been part of Decathlon’s story from the very beginning. In 1976, bringing equipment for multiple sports together under one roof and making it affordable for everyone was itself a new approach to sports retail. In the 1990s, this culture took another major step forward with the development of Decathlon’s first in-house sports brands, including Quechua, Tribord and Kipsta, strengthening the company’s ability to design solutions directly from the realities of practice.

Over time, innovation has remained guided by the same principle: understand what prevents people from moving, then find ways to remove those barriers. By observing changing practices, motivations and lifestyles across sports, Decathlon teams seek to identify barriers that go beyond a single discipline, allowing innovation to have a broader impact on people’s wellbeing.

Behind every solution is a multidisciplinary innovation ecosystem. Across Decathlon’s 18 design centres, designers, engineers, researchers, scientists and sports experts observe, imagine, create, test and develop together, combining insights from real-life practice with research into the human body and mind, technology, design and industrial expertise.

Sports teams work close to users and professional athletes to understand their needs and identify the barriers they encounter. These insights are then translated into tangible solutions through Decathlon’s industrial expertise, from the choice of materials and components to manufacturing technologies and collaboration with specialist partners. Today, 35 industrial processes - spanning textiles, metals, electronics, optics and more - work across more than 80 sports, connecting knowledge and capabilities that can benefit multiple practices.