Lindsey Vonn issues mea culpa for hammer attack on skis

Lindsey Vonn has issued a mea culpa after a video showing her angrily attacking the bindings of her skis with a hammer overshadowed her skiing exploits on Saturday.

American ski queen Vonn finished second in the women's downhill at the Italian resort of La Thuile to reclaim the overall World Cup lead from Swiss rival Lara Gut, who is now 43 points behind in second place.

She now has an unassailable lead of 173 points in the women's downhill standings with one race left this season, meaning she is assured of a record eighth crown in skiing's most prestigious discipline that allows her to overtake Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark for the most number of World Cup titles.

But images of Vonn's attacking her ski bindings with a hammer -- in an apparent show of frustration at one of her skis coming off during a downhill race on Friday -- has partly overshadowed her weekend exploits.

The video clip, which can be seen on YouTube, shows Vonn taking a heavy mallett-type hammer in both hands and trying to smash the bindings on one of her skis.

After initially posting the clip on her Facebook page, Vonn later erased it. She then contacted the chairman of Head -- who supply her equipment -- to apologise.

Vonn admitted after Saturday's race she had made a mistake: "I made a mistake and everyone does that. I am human. I had a lot of emotions yesterday and I should have just done boxing with my trainer.

"I'm always usually careful with what I do and say on the social media platforms and I just didn't really think it through.

"I was a little bit too emotional. It was a good lesson for me. I just have to remember that I have a lot of people looking up to me and I can't let my emotions get the best of me."

Vonn will officially win a record eighth World Cup downhill title after the final race of the season, allowing her to overtake Stenmark's all-time record of 19 titles.

Stenmark won 19 during his storied career from 1975 to 1984. So far, Vonn has four overall World Cup titles, five in the super-G and three in combined.
SourcE: AFP