“It’s huge, completely crazy.
I have finally accomplished my dream,” assures Richard Plaud, overcome by emotion.
Its matchstick Eiffel Tower will be included in the “Guinness World Records”.
Caught in an unexpected media whirlwind, the British judges finally validated this French record.
Last week, the same people first disqualified Richard Plaud's attempt.
The reason ?
This forty-year-old based in Montpellier-de-Médillan (Charente-Maritime) did not use regulatory matches “with red, sulfur tips” but bare rods purchased directly from the main French manufacturer.
“I was able to defend my honor and say what was on my heart”
“Disappointing, frustrating, incomprehensible and not very fair play,” Richard Plaud has continued to repeat since then.
“We may have been a little harsh with this request,” Mark McKinley, one of the directors of “Guinness World Records,” eventually admitted in the English press.
This mea-culpa has since opened the way for “additional analysis” and the sending of this redemptive message: “You are now the Guinness World Records title Holder!”
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Happy and proud, Richard Plaud no longer believed it: "It's improbable but I was able to defend my honor and say what was on my heart."
The British judges retained the smallest of the measurements provided by the French surveyors.
Officially, Richard Plaud's Eiffel Tower measures 7,186 meters.
After devoting eight years to assembling 706,900 matches, the model maker is now awaiting his official diploma: “I'm going to put it in the living room to see it every day,” smiles Richard Plaud.