Career
Bols was among the top all-rounders in the late 60s and early 70s, this period overlapped the glory days of Kees Verkerk and Ard Schenk, so that he tends to be known as the third best Dutch skater of his time. His best results were a 5th place on the 1,500m and a 4th place on the 10,000 m in 1972 in Sapporo. He also came in 4th at both the European and World all-round championships in 1970.
He was in excellent shape at the European Championships in Heerenveen that year and finished second at both the 500m and 5000m the first day and was first in the standing.
During the 5000m a failure to change lanes resulted in him skating two outer lanes in a row (ie he skated about 25 m longer) and a disqualification. The next day, his fans waved a commercial Bols flag half-staff in the stadium.
Bols did (bronze) medal in both the 1972 European and World all-round championships. The next year, he joined most top skaters in a short-lived professional league, finishing 3rd and 2nd in their championships in 1973 and 1974.
After his career he owned a sporting goods shop in his hometown of Hoogeveen.
World records
Source: SpeedSkatingStats.com
Personal records
To put these personal records in perspective, the WR column lists the official world records on the dates that Bols skated his personal records. † Ard Schenk skated 7:09.8 the same day, so Bols" 7:10.7 did not become a world record. Bols has an Adelskalender score of 168.513 points.
He reached second place on this ranking list from February 7, 1970 to January 16, 1971 and would retain third place until March 1975.
