She and Elena Oriabinskaia won silver in the coxless pair event at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in 2021 in Tokyo.

Her father Andrey Kostygov is a rowing coach for CSKA Moscow and her brother Pavel is an ice hockey player.

When their parents moved to Zelenograd, Stepanova participated on swimming competitions, even winning in the 100 and 500 butterfly and freestyle events.

After trying out her father's rowing boat, she enjoyed it as much as to win in the single sculls event on a junior tournament held in Moscow two or three weeks later.

[2] She won the double sculls event at the 2019 Coastal Rowing Championships in Hong Kong with Hanna Prakatsen.