Decathlon is a French sporting goods retailer. We are the largest sporting goods retailer in the world. Decathlon started with a store in Lille, France in 1976, founded by Michel Leclercq. It started to expand abroad a decade later, to Germany in 1986, Spain in 1992, Italy in 1998, Portugal and the United Kingdom in 1999, China in 2003, India in 2009, Malaysia in 2016, Southeast Asia in 2012, South Africa, the Philippines in 2017, and Australia in 2018. Today, there are more than 1100 stores in 38 countries. The company employs more than 78,000 staff members from 80 different nationalities.

The retailer stocks a wide range of sporting goods. Decathlon Group also owns over 20 brands with research and development facilities all over France to develop the latest innovative designs, registering up to 40 patents per year. Each brand represents a different sport or group of sports, with dedicated product development and design teams.