COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Ice dancers Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates are leaving their longtime coaches for Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva, who trained the gold and silver medalists at the Vancouver Games.
Samuelson says they hope the switch, announced Wednesday, will give their skating “a new look and fresh perspective.”
They spent the last 10 years with Yuri Chesnichenko and Yaroslava Nechaeva, finishing third at this year’s U.S. championships and 11th at their first Olympics.
Shpilband and Zoueva are among the world’s top dance coaches. In addition to Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir and U.S. champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White, who went 1-2 in Vancouver, Shpilband and Zoueva coached Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto to silver at the 2006 Olympics.
