A Finnish couple has narrowly won the 19th World Wife Carrying Championships, a quirky competition in which men race to be the fastest while carrying a female teammate.

Ville Parviainen and Janette Oksman cleared the gruelling 253.5 metre obstacle course in 63.75 seconds on Saturday, less than a second ahead of Britain's Rich Blake Smith and Anna Marguerite Smith.

Thirty-six couples from countries including Australia, Japan, and the United States took part in the race, held in the central Finnish municipality of Sonkajarvi.

The woman must be over 17 years of age and hit a minimum weight, but couples don't have to be married - organisers say a man could "borrow a neighbour's wife".

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