Events in Sport
- May 2 90th Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack aboard Northern Dancer wins in 2:00
- May 15 Sporting Portugal win 4th European Cup Winner's Cup against MTK Budapest of Hungry 1-0 at Antwerp (replay)
- May 16 89th Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Northern Dancer wins in 1:56.8
Sports History
May 17 First Tim Horton's coffee and donut shop opens in Hamilton, Ontario by NHL player Tim Horton
- May 17 Phillies triple play Houston Colt .45s
- May 20 Buster Mathis beats future world heavyweight champion Joe Frazer on points at trials in Flushing, NY to qualify for US Olympic boxing team; Mathis injures thumb, replaced by Frazier who wins gold medal
- May 23 Dale Greig runs female marathon world record (3:27:45)
Sports History
May 24 Longest HR (471') in Baltimore Memorial Stadium (Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins)
French Open Women's Tennis
May 30 French Championships Women's Tennis: Margaret Court of Australia wins her second French singles crown; beats Maria Bueno of Brazil 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Sports History
May 30 Indianapolis 500: A. J. Foyt wins but race primarily remembered for fiery 7-car accident resulting in deaths of Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald; last race won by a front-engined "roadster"
- May 31 SF Giants beat NY Mets, 8-6, in 23 innings (2nd game) (7 hrs 32 mins)
Birthdays in Sport
Yvonne van Gennip
May 1 Yvonne van Gennip, Dutch speed skater (Olympic gold 1,500m, 3,000m, 5,000m 1988), born in Haarlem, Netherlands
Ron Hextall
May 3 Ron Hextall, Canadian NHL goalie (Philadelphia Flyers, 1986-92, 94-99; NY Islanders), Vezina & Conn Smyth winner (1987), scored 2 goals, born in Brandon, Manitoba
- May 4 Goran Prpić, Croatian tennis star, born in Zagreb, Croatia
- May 5 Heike Henkel, German world record indoor high jumper (Olympic gold 1992), born in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein
- May 6 Kim Oden, US Olympic volleyball player (NCAA Play of Decade-80s), born in Birmingham, Alabama
- May 6 Mike McGruder, American NFL cornerback (Tampa Bay Bucs), born in Cleveland, Ohio
- May 7 Leslie O'Neal, NFL defensive end and 6x Pro-Bowl selection (San Diego Chargers, St Louis Rams), born in Little Rock, Arkansas
- May 7 Ronnie Harmon, NFL running back (San Diego Chargers, Tennessee Oilers), born in Queens, New York
Miloslav Mecir
May 9 Miloslav Mecir, Czech tennis player (Olympic gold 1988), born in Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
- May 11 Bobby Witt, American MLB pitcher, 1986-2001 (Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics, and 5 other teams), born in Arlington, Virginia
- May 11 Floyd Youmans, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1985-89 (Montreal Expos, Philadelphia Phillies), born in Tampa, Florida
- May 11 Jeff Sellers, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1985-88 (Boston Red Sox), born in Compton, California
- May 11 John Parrott, British snooker player, born in Liverpool, England
- May 12 José Casanova, Peruvian soccer midfielder (10 caps; Alianza Lima), born in Lima, Peru (d. 1987)
- May 12 Joy Ellen Kitzmiller, US badminton player (Olympic-92), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 13 Sara Gomer, English tennis player, born in Torquay, England
- May 14 Suzy Kolber, American sportscaster
- May 15 Pierre Trentin, French 1K time trials (Olympic gold 1968)
- May 16 John Salley, NBA star (Detroit Pistons)
- May 17 Menno Oosting, Dutch tennis player (d. 1999)
- May 18 Will Wolford, American NFL tackle (Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Louisville, Kentucky
- May 20 Jeff Schwarz, American baseball pitcher (California Angels, Chicago White Sox)
- May 21 Tommy Albelin, Swedish NHL defenceman (Calgary Flames), born in Stockholm, Sweden
- May 23 Kenny Gattison, NBA forward (Orlando Magic)
- May 24 Adrian Moorhouse, British 100m breaststroker (Olympic gold 1988), born in Bradford, England
- May 24 Elizabeth McColgan, British running star (world record 5 km indoor), born in Dundee, Scotland
- May 24 Pat Verbeek, Canadian NHL forward, 1982-2002 (New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, and 3 other teams; Team Canada), and executive (Detroit Red Wings), born in Sarnia, Ontario
- May 25 David Shaw, Canadian NHL defenseman, 1982-98 (Quebec Nordiques, New York Rangers, and 4 other teams), born in St. Thomas, Ontario
- May 26 Kevin Kennedy, baseball manager (Texas Rangers)
- May 28 Armon Gilliam, American NBA forward, 1987-2000 (Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks, NJ Nets, and 3 other teams), and college coach, 2001-05 (Penn State), born in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania (d. 2011)
- May 28 Beth Herr, American tennis star, born in Middletown, Ohio
- May 28 Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer
- May 30 Andrea Montermini, Italian racing driver
- May 30 Nhi Lan Le, Vietnam, US fencer-foil (Olympics 1996)
Weddings in Sport
Roy Campanella
May 5 Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella (41) weds long-time friend Roxie Joynes
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions