A Lithuanian man and his wife have won the world “wife carrying” title, leaping over timber and wading through waist-high water to beat dozens of other couples for a second year running.

Vytautas Kirkliauskas and his wife Neringa Kirkliauskiene cleared a gruelling 253.5-metre (831ft) obstacle course in a time of one minute 6.72 seconds on Saturday.

Finland Wife Carrying
The 831ft obstacle course features waist-high water (AP)

That was just a tenth of a second ahead of former six-time world champion, Finland’s Taisto Miettinen, and his new partner Katja Kovanen.

Couples from more than a dozen countries took part in the annual race in Sonkajarvi, 300 miles north of Helsinki, the capital.

Finland Wife Carrying
The race is keenly contested every year – and couples do not have to be married (AP)

Despite the event’s title, couples do not have to be married.

Organisers said male contestants can “steal a neighbour’s wife” if they do not have a companion.