Martin Ströby inserted 81 matches into his nostrils to break the Guinness World Record for the most matches held in the nose. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records
A Swedish man said his kids inspired him to stuff 81 matches up his nostrils and earn a Guinness World Records title in the process.
Martin Ströby, 42, told Guinness World Records his children were enamored by the latest edition of the organization’s book, and told him it would be “so cool” if he broke a record of his own.
“At first I thought ‘I’m not good enough at anything to be the best in the world,’ but after my children showed me all the different world records I began thinking I might be able to find one I had a shot at breaking, thus began the search for a suitable one,” Ströby said.
He landed on the record for the most matches held in the nose, which stood at 68.
“After doing the trial run, I discovered I could both stretch my nostrils a lot and also ignore the pain from putting all those matches in there, so I would say I’m a natural,” Ströby said. “I did however try to find a good technique because matches kept falling out of my nostrils. Three inserted matches meant one or two falling out. I did some more trial runs and did eventually find a technique I could utilize to minimize the number of matches falling out.”
He ended up taking the record with 81 matches.
“As a father I want my children to look up to me in the same way I look up to my father who has taught me more than I can write down,” he said.
