Events in Sport
- May 1 102nd Kentucky Derby: Angel Cordero Jr wins aboard Bold Forbes, the second of 3 Derby successes
- May 9 Sally Little wins LPGA Ladies Masters at Moss Creek Golf Tournament
- May 12 20th European Cup: Bayern Munich beats Saint-Etienne 1-0 at Glasgow
- May 13 9th & final ABA championship: NY Nets beat Denver Nuggets, 4 games to 2
- May 15 101st Preakness: John Lively aboard Elocutionist wins in 1:55
- May 16 Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens sweep Philadelphia Flyers in 4 games
- May 16 Sue Roberts wins LPGA American Defender Golf Classic
- May 22 St Louis Cardinal Reggie Smith hits 3 HR
- May 23 Amy Alcott wins '76 LPGA Golf Classic
Boxing Title Fight
May 24 Muhammad Ali TKOs Richard Dunn in 5 for heavyweight boxing title in Munich
Muhammad Ali
Birthdays in Sport
- May 3 Jeff Halpern, American ice hockey player, born in Potomac, Maryland
- May 4 Ben Grieve, American baseball player, born in Arlington, Texas
- May 4 Jason Michaels, American baseball player, born in Tampa, Florida
- May 5 Anastasios Pantos, Greek footballer
- May 5 Juan Pablo Sorín, Argentine footballer
- May 6 Lindsay Page, figure skater (1997 E Great Lakes Sr-3rd), born in Madison, Wisconsin
- May 7 Nicholas Butcher, field hockey midfielder/forward (Olympics 1996), born in Los Angeles, California
- May 8 Oleg Tverdovsky, Donetsk Ukr, NHL defenseman (Winnipeg Jets)
- May 9 Faye Johnstone, archer (Olympics 1996), born in Auckland, New Zealand
- May 10 Aggeliki Tsiolakoudi, Greek javelin thrower
- May 13 Mark Delaney, Welsh footballer
- May 14 Terrance Cauthen, lightweight boxer (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Trenton, New Jersey
- May 14 Brian Lawrence, American baseball player
- May 15 Eric DuBose, Bradenton Fl, baseball pitcher (Olympic bronze 1996)
- May 15 Adolfo Bautista, Mexican footballer
- May 15 Jacek Krzynówek, Polish footballer
- May 15 Ryan Leaf, American football player
- May 17 Anna Windsor, Australian swimmer (Olympics 1996), born in Sydney, New South Wales
- May 17 Daniel Komen, Nyaru Kenya, 5k runner
- May 17 Peter Devine, American fencer-foil (Olympics 1996), born in NYC, New York
- May 17 José Guillén, Dominican baseball player
- May 18 Ron Mercer, NBA guard (Boston Celtics)
- May 19 Kevin Garnett, NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves), born in Greenville, South Carolina
- May 20 Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- May 20 Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
- May 22 Christian Vande Velde, cyclist (Olympics 1996), born in Chicago, Illinois
- May 23 Ricardinho, Brazilian footballer
- May 24 Catherine Cox, Australian netballer
- May 25 Tarik Glenn, offensive tackle (Indianapolis Colts)
- May 26 Markus Wieland, hockey defenseman (Team Germany 1998)
- May 26 Scott Humphries, Greely Colo, tennis star (1995 doubles Binghampton)
- May 27 Richard Park, Seoul Kor, NHL center (Pitts Penguins)
- May 28 Alexei Nemov, Russian gymnast
- May 28 Glenn Morrison, Rugby League Player
- May 29 Caçapa, Brazilian footballer
- May 29 Jerry Hairston Jr., American baseball player
- May 30 Magnus Norman, Swedish tennis player
- May 31 Matt Harpring, American basketball player