Gold in Beijing

Lind, Coppola win rowing medals

Princeton classmates Caroline Lind ’06 and Steve Coppola ’06 earned medals at the Beijing Olympics Aug. 17. Lind and the U.S. women's eight won gold, while Coppola and the U.S. men's eight settled for bronze. A third member of the Class of 2006, Andreanne Morin of the Canadian women's eight, missed a medal by less than a second, finishing fourth in the event finals. The victory in the women's eight was America's first since 1984, and Lind, who had met members of the 1984 team, told The Boston Globe that she drew inspiration from that gold-medal-winning crew. "They wanted to welcome us to their club," she said. "So we had to step up." Alumni Lia Pernell ’03 (United States, women's quadruple sculls) and Sam Loch ’06 (Australia, men's eight) also rowed in the Olympic finals Aug. 17, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively, in their events.

Click here for NBC's video coverage of the U.S. women's eight.