The clock is ticking down to the highly anticipated opening of Biddulph's new Aldi supermarket on Thursday 25th November at 8am.

We reported earlier this month on all the features the new store will have, and the details of the grand opening ceremony.

In the build up to the opening date being confirmed, there was some speculation over who would be cutting the red ribbon to mark the supermarket as officially open.

It was then confirmed that the ribbon will be cut by Joseph Clarke, a Team GB gold medal winning slalom canoeist.

So who is Joseph? We found out a bit more about him ahead of his appearance on Thursday!

Born in Stoke and a supporter of Stoke City FC, Joseph Clarke is a 29-year-old slalom canoeist who has been competing at the international level for 12 years.

He specialises in the K1 event, which is the men's single kayak, and at the Rio Olympics in 2016 he won Gold in this event!

It was the first time a Brit had ever won Gold in the K1, and was also Team GB's first medal in the event since 2004.

He has also won a range of gold, silver and bronze medals at the Canoe Slalom World and European Championships.

Joe was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to canoeing.

He regularly posts updates on his Instagram and Twitter pages, which can be found here and here.

We are sure that Biddulph is excited to welcome an Olympic Gold medallist to the town for the Aldi opening this week!