Steven Coppola was born on May 22, 1984, in
Buffalo, New York, a son of Mimi Barnes-Coppola and Douglas Steven Coppola Sr. He attended
Canisius High School, where he started rowing in 1998 at
West Side Rowing Club's "Learn-to-Row" camp. He won multiple Scholastic National Rowing Championships. He also won numerous National and International titles while rowing for Princeton and in 2005 and 2006. He was a member of the Princeton varsity eight that finished second in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. He made his Olympic debut at the
2008 Olympic Games, rowing for the
United States, where he and his team won a bronze medal in the 2000-meter race with a final time of 5:25.34, which was less than 2 seconds behind first place
Canada. Coppola is the first ever athlete from Western New York's West Side Rowing Club to receive an Olympic Medal. ==Race results==