Our Story
& History
We, at Decathlon, were born in Englos, near Lille, in the north of France, some 43 years ago.
We have, since this day of July 1976 when Michel Leclercq created Decathlon and gathered around him six "pioneers", followed this one
philosophy: "sustainably make the pleasure and benefits of sport accessible to the many".
We love doing sport, we love interacting with people, we love innovating. Here are three of the chapters of our short history...
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A Passion For Sport, Part III: Our Teammates and Users
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A Passion For Sport, Part II: Our Innovators and Entrepreneurs
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A Passion For Sport, Part I: Our Story and History
OUR LIBRARY & BOOKSHOP
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Is The Decathlon Strategy Of Getting People In Store For Expertise And Interactivity Worthwhile? The Answer Is "Yes" According To Shift Magazine
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The Sydney Morning Herald headlines on Decathlon Australia growth & online website
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For our 2026 Vision, we dream of making our purpose come true "for the many" in 1000 cities around the world.
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A Sports User Describes Decathlon In His Own Words. Sport For All, All For Sport!
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Decahtlon & sport, a true love passion, for everybody: Decathlon lauches its new campaign about self-confidence, tolerance and love for sport!
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For the first time, the French brand is catching up with some of the most famous worldwide brands and becomes the world's number one.
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LSA publishes, with consulting firm Capitalmind, the world's top 50 in the sporting goods trade
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313 stores in France, more than 1,000 in the rest of the world and 274 in China, Decathlon has made sport a world-renowned empire for 42 years.
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Snapshot at the documentary broadcast "Capital" introducing "Decathlon, secrets of a french success-story"