New World Record Achieved for Building Eiffel Tower with Matchsticks Following a Change of Plans

A model of the Eiffel Tower has been declared the tallest matchstick building in the world, just a day after it was initially disqualified by Guinness World Records (GWR). The tower, measuring 7.19m (23ft), had been rejected by GWR because it was made using the wrong type of matches. However, GWR has now acknowledged its mistake and commended Richard Plaud, the model enthusiast, on his record-breaking achievement. Plaud, who spent eight years constructing the model using 706,900 matches and 23kg of glue, described the experience as an "emotional rollercoaster". Initially, Plaud started by removing the red sulphur tops from commercial matches, but soon realized it was a tedious process. He then contacted the manufacturer, who provided him with plain wooden matches, allowing him to continue building. Plaud completed the tower on 27 December and contacted GWR for authentication, but it was rejected initially because it only accepted commercially available matches for records. However, on Thursday, GWR reversed their decision, stating that they were "really excited to be able to approve it." Plaud plans to exhibit his model at the Olympics in Paris in July. The previous world record holder was Toufic Daher from Lebanon, who built a 6.53m (21ft) Eiffel Tower in 2009.