Jan Bols (born 27 August 1944 in Hoogeveen, Drenthe) is a former Dutch long track speed skater. 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.

Jan Bols
Jan Bols in 1968
Personal information
Born (1944-08-27) 27 August 1944 (age 80)
Hoogeveen, Netherlands
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
CountryNetherlands
SportSpeed skating
Medal record
Representing the  Netherlands
World Allround Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1972 Oslo Allround
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1972 Davos Allround

Bols participated in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, but, as an all-rounder rather than a distance specialist, he did not win medals. His best results were a fifth place on the 1,500 m and a fourth place on the 10,000 m in 1972 in Sapporo. He also came in fourth at both the European and World all-round championships in 1970.[1]

In 1971 he won the Dutch championships ahead of Verkerk and Schenk. 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 (i.e. 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 third and second in their championships in 1973 and 1974. After retiring from competitions in 1974 he ran a sporting goods shop in his hometown of Hoogeveen.[1]

Personal records

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Personal records[2]
Men's speed skating
Event Result Date Location Notes
500 meter 39.4 15 January 1972 Davos
1000 meter 1:20.4 19 January 1971 Davos
1500 meter 2:01.6 22 January 1972 Davos
3000 meter 4:13.5 2 March 1972 Inzell
5000 meter 7:10.7 4 March 1972 Inzell
10000 meter 15:10.2 5 March 1972 Inzell
  • Bols has an Adelskalender score of 168.513 points. He reached second place on this ranking list from 7 February 1970 to 16 January 1971 and would retain third place until March 1975.

World records

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Nr. Event Result Date Location Note
1. 3000 meter 4:16.4 27 January 1970 Cortina d'Ampezzo World record until 15 January 1971
2. Big combination 171.512 8 March 1970 Ludwig Schwabl Stadion, Inzell World record until 31 January 1971

Source:[2]

Tournament overview

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Season
Dutch
Championships
Allround
European
Championships
Allround
Olympic
Games
World
Championships
Allround
World
Championships
Sprint
ISSL
European
Allround
ISSL
World
Allround

1965–66
DEVENTER

17th 500m
21st 5000m
18th 1500m
DNQ 10000m
NC overall(22nd)

1966–67
AMSTERDAM

8th 500m
9th 5000m
12th 1500m
4th 10000m
7th overall

1967–68
AMSTERDAM

15th 500m
4th 5000m
8th 1500m
  10000m
  overall
OSLO

8th 500m
6th 5000m
6th 1500m
  10000m
5th overall
GRENOBLE

DNF 500m
16th 1500m
8th 5000m
13th 10000m
GOTHENBURG
19th 500m
  5000m
7th 1500m
  10000m
5th overall

1968–69
HEERENVEEN

  500m
  5000m
  1500m
  10000m
  overall
INZELL

18th 500m
11th 5000m
17th 1500m
10th 10000m
14th overall
DEVENTER

15th 500m
5th 5000m
15th 1500m
  10000m
9th overall

1969–70
DEVENTER

4th 500m
  5000m
5th 1500m
  10000m
  overall
INNSBRUCK

8th 500m
  5000m
7th 1500m
  10000m
4th overall
OSLO

14th 500m
  5000m
9th 1500m
  10000m
4th overall

1970–71
AMSTERDAM

  500m
  5000m
  1500m
  10000m
  overall
HEERENVEEN

  500m
  5000m
DNS 1500m
DNS 10000m
NC overall
GOTHENBURG

7th 500m
4th 5000m
6th 1500m
9th 10000m
6th overall
INZELL

26th 500m
7th 1000m
19th 500m
7th 1000m
13th overall

1971–72
DEVENTER

  500m
  5000m
4th 1500m
  10000m
  overall
DAVOS

11th 500m
  5000m
  1500m
  10000m
  overall
SAPPORO

5th 1500m
8th 5000m
4th 10000m
OSLO

9th 500m
  5000m
7th 1500m
  10000m
  overall
ESKILSTUNA

20th 500m
14th 1000m
26th 500m
9th 1000m
19th overall

1972–73
SKIEN

4th 500m
5th 5000m
6th 1500m
  10000m
  overall
GOTHENBURG

5th 500m
  5000m
  1500m
  10000m
  overall

1973–74
TYNSET

6th 500m
6th 5000m
8th 1500m
5th 10000m
8th overall
NC = No classification

source: [3] [4]

Medals won

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Championship Gold
 
Silver
 
Bronze
 
Dutch Allround
1
3
1
European Allround
0
0
1
Olympic Games
0
0
0
World Allround
0
0
1
World Sprint
0
0
0
ISSL European Allround
0
0
1
ISSL World Allround
0
1
0

References

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  1. ^ a b Jan Bols Archived 1 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. sports-reference.com
  2. ^ a b "Skater Profile | Jan Bols | Men | Netherlands".
  3. ^ "Jan Bols". speedskatingstats.com. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Jan Bols". speedskatingnews.info. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
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