The Man Who Broke Bowling

On a Wednesday afternoon in mid-April, the greatest bowler in the world, perhaps in the history of the sport, sat in a booth in a Bowlero in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a cold wind lashing outside, and pondered how it had all gone wrong. Jason Belmonte was a study in black—black parka, black Jordans, black beard—and his mood was no less dark. He was competing at the World Series of Bowling, one of the sport’s major championships, which features three different singles tournaments within a larger one: four chances to win a title on national television. Through 60 games over six days, Belmonte had failed to make any of the first three finals, each of which featured five bowlers. “I can’t remember another World Series where I didn’t make a top five,” he said. The breaks just hadn’t gone his way: “A pin would wobble, and it stood, whereas in other weeks it fell.”