Igor Shpilband

Igor Yuryevich Shpilband (Russian: Игорь Юрьевич Шпильбанд, born July 14, 1964) is an American ice dancing coach and former competitor for the Soviet Union.

In 1990, he and several other Soviet skaters were part of a U.S. tour headlined by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean when one of them, Gorsha Sur, decided to defect; Shpilband, Veronica Pershina and Elena Krykanova decided to join him.

[3] With his former wife Veronica Pershina, he has a son, Maxim, and a daughter, Ekaterina, a competitive figure skater for the United States.

[7] He and his partner, Tatiana Gladkova, won the silver medal at the 1982 World Junior Championships and then gold in 1983.

[9] Gorsha Sur recommended him as a coach to Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow, who were among his first students.