Richard Plaud has poured 175 whole days of his life into creating a matchstick model replica of the Eiffel Tower (Picture: Richard Plaud/Facebook)
The last 24 hours have been an emotional roller coaster for Eiffel Tower model maker Richard Plaud.
Eight years of hard grind culminated in a 23ft-tall masterpiece that was painstakingly put together with matchsticks.
It stands two feet higher than the previous record for the tallest matchstick replica of the French landmark held by Lebanese craftsman Toufic Daher since 2009.
Council worker Richard spent 4,200 hours – that’s 175 whole days – piecing together his sculpture of the iconic Parisian structure and used an astonishing 706,900 sticks.
However, the 47-year-old’s dreams of etching his name into the history books were shattered when the Guinness World Records rejected his bid on a technicality yesterday.
He said officials hadn’t even bothered to come and see his creation when they dismissed his application because the sticks used weren’t commercially available and had been altered from their original form.
‘Tell me how 706,900 sticks stuck one by one are not matches,’ he raged on social media. ‘My matchstick tower still stands and will be 7.19 metres for a long time.’
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
His Guinness World Records attempt had initially been rejected on a technicality (Picture: Richard Plaud/Facebook)
But there’s been a major twist.
The Guinness World Records have made a massive U-turn and decided that Richard has now indeed been awarded his title for the tallest replica Eiffel Tower made from matchsticks.
Mark McKinley, director of central records services, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We take a lot of pride in being as thorough as possible when reviewing evidence, because our rules and evidence requirements level the playing field for everyone, everywhere who wants to attempt a record.
More Trending
‘However, having learned more about the techniques used by the matchstick model community, and after a second review of this achievement in relation to similar record titles that we have awarded, it seems that we have been heavy-handed in the application of our rules in this case.
‘We are therefore very happy to award Richard with the Guinness World Records title and we have corrected some inconsistencies within our rules which now allow the matchsticks to be snipped and shaped as the modeller sees fit.
‘We regret the distress that the last 24 hours will have caused on what should have been a moment of celebration for Richard. I hope he’ll accept our belated congratulations on behalf of everyone at GWR on his truly impressive structure – and his new Guinness World Records title.’
Richard, 47, can now celebrate his victory that has been eight years in the making (Picture: Richard Plaud/Facebook)
Frenchman Richard, who lives in Montpellier-de-Médillan, a village in west France, effectively committed more of his life to this project than just eight years.
He first developed a passion for model making when he was eight, and it’s the skill he’s developed over the last four decades that led to his remarkable feat.
Richard had conceded that it was ‘the dream that has escaped’ when he was dealt the blow that his bid had been turned away.
But now – more than a month after completing the model tower on the 100th anniversary of the death of Gustave Eiffel – he can celebrate at last.
Richard’s Eiffel Tower model is now the record holder for the tallest of its kind made from matchsticks (Picture: AGT)
The decision to reject his bid was overturned and Richard can celebrate (Picture: AGT)
Richard’s design was a replica of the Eiffel Tower in the French capital of Paris (Picture: Getty Images)
Every single one of the 402 matchstick panels he designed to fit together in Ikea flat-pack style was indeed worth the effort.
Guinness World Record officials had previously said Richard’s decision to persuade a French matchstick maker to send him boxes filled with thousands of headless matches meant they couldn’t award him the title.
They instead said that the heads would have to be individually scratched off in order to make his attempt valid.
Fortunately for Richard, they backtracked.
And his wife Sandra, who was equally disappointed, will also be pleased that she will now be ‘able to get my living room back’.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.