A man who spent eight years building the world’s tallest matchstick, the Eiffel Tower, had his efforts disastrously rejected for one trivial reason.
Frenchman Richard Proud, 47, was even more furious that Guinness World Records didn’t even visit the 23-foot-tall replica before making its decision.
The model maker estimates he put 4,200 hours into the project, which took eight years of hard work.
However, the governing body said his model would not be considered because it was made from matchsticks that could not be purchased in stores.
He was also informed that the 706,900 sticks he used had changed beyond recognition from their original form.
Richard, who works in the arts and bridges department of the Challans-Maritimes county council in southwest France, was furious at the decision.
He told the Times: “It’s disappointing, frustrating, incomprehensible and not very fair play.”
“It’s part of the dream that got away,” he added, after being devastated that Guinness didn’t even sympathize with him.
Richard continued his anger with a social media rant, claiming the matchstick tower would last for a “long time”.
“Please tell me how 706,900 individual sticks are not matches,” he said furiously.
“My matchstick tower is still standing and will always be 7.19 meters high.”
The Sun has contacted Guinness World Records for comment.
Starting the project in December 2015, Richard ultimately completed it just before the turn of the year.
After creating 402 panels from the matches and incorporating them into a massive structure, the final panel was installed on December 27, 2023.
Ironically, this day commemorated the 100th anniversary of the death of Gustave Eiffel, the engineer of the first tower.
The reward for his efforts would be to be officially recognized as having broken the world record for matchstick carving, which has been held since 2009.
What’s even better is that the previous record is also held by the Eiffel Tower, with Lebanese craftsman Toufik Daher’s version measuring 21.4 feet.
But that wasn’t the case, even though Richard had originally bought matches in a supermarket to build this structure.
If he had stuck with them, he would have won the award.
But his plans fell through after he decided the process was too “cumbersome” and instead struck a deal with a French matchstick manufacturer to supply him with a giant box filled with 190,000 headless matches. Became.
Richard also decides to cut off the heads of the original matches he bought at the store, but protocol stipulates that they must be scratched off for the attempt to be valid.
Another obstacle to overcome is the tower’s legs, which modelers told Le Parisien required “quite complex calculations” to ensure the legs would support the weight of the structure. .
However, despite years of grueling transplantation, Richard’s attempts yielded no records.
But one person who may be happy with the completed project is his wife, Sandra.
Speaking to a local TV station ahead of her record-breaking attempt, she expressed her hope that after more than 20 years of dreaming, she would finally succeed.
“Then you can get your living room back,” she laughed.