Events in Sport
- May 1 119th Kentucky Derby: Jerry Bailey wins aboard Sea Hero, the first of 2 Derby victories (1996 on Grindstone)
Boxing Title Fight
May 8 Lennox Lewis beats Tony Tucker in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
Lennox Lewis
Hall of Fame
May 10 Bill Walton is inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Bill Walton
- May 12 Parma of Italy win 33rd European Cup Winner's Cup against Royal Antwerp of Belgium 3-1 in London
Event of Interest
May 13 KC Royal George Brett hits his 300th HR
George Brett
- May 15 118th Preakness: Mike Smith aboard Prairie Bayou wins in 1:56.6
Boxing Title Fight
May 22 Riddick Bowe TKOs Jesse Ferguson in 2 for heavyweight boxing title
Riddick Bowe
- May 24 NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: Montreal Canadians beat New York Islanders, 4 games to 1
Baseball Record
May 26 In Major League Baseball, Carlos Martinez famously hits a ball off Jose Canseco's head for a home run
José Canseco
- May 26 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich
- May 27 Baseball player Dale Murphy ends his career after 398 HRs
- May 29 Texas Ranger Jose Canseco pitches 8th inning in 15-1 loss to Red Sox, he gives up 3 runs on 2 hits & 3 walks, he damages his arm
- May 29 NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Los Angeles Kings beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 3
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi passes reigning F1 World Champion Nigel Mansell with 16 laps to go for his second race win
Birthdays in Sport
- May 20 Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
Deaths in Sport
- May 5 Dick Metz, American golfer (US Open 1938 runner-up; 10 PGA Tour titles), dies at 84
- May 12 Zeno Colò, Italian downhill skier (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 72
- May 13 Evert "Eef" Dolman, Dutch cyclist (Olympic gold 1964), dies at 47
- May 19 S W Sohoni, cricketer (4 Tests for India), dies
- May 19 Ranga Sohoni, Indian cricket all-rounder (4 Tests, top score 29 no, 2 wickets), dies from a heart attack at 75
- May 28 Charles Barnett, cricketer (20 Tests for England), dies
- May 29 Billy Conn, American boxer, dies of pneumonia at 75