Decathlon Group (French pronunciation: [dekatlɔ̃]) is one of the largest sporting goods retailers.
Decathlon was founded in 1976 by Michel Leclerc by opening a store in Lille, France. A decade later, Decathlon expanded by opening stores outside of France. Germany in 1986, Spain in 1992, Italy in 1988, Portugal and Great Britain in 1999, China in 2003, India in 2009 and East Asia in 2012.
Decathlon has more than 1,100 stores in 38 countries and more than seventy-eight thousand people from 80 different nationalities are employed by this company.