Vale Phil May
The Western Australian Institute of Sport wishes to express its sorrow at the passing of Western Australian sporting great and WA Hall of Champions inductee Phil May.
May, 70, passed away last Sunday surrounded by loved ones at Bethesda Hospital, following a short illness.
Born in Blackpool, England on 20 September, 1944, Phil May is acknowledged as the foremost exponent of the triple jump and long jump ever produced in Western Australia.
Over a period of eight years between 1966 and 1973, May won six national titles in the triple jump and four in the long jump. May held the national record in the triple jump for eleven years from 1968-1979 and the long jump for eight years between 1965-1976.
May represented Australia in the Olympic Games in 1968 in Mexico City where he finished sixth in a triple jump competition where the first five competitors all broke the existing world record. He was also a competent sprinter and was a member of an Australian quartet that set a Commonwealth record in the 4 x 100 metres in 1968.
At the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970, he won a gold medal in the triple jump and a silver medal in the long jump.
At the Pacific Conference Games in 1969, May was a gold medallist in the triple jump, long jump and as a member of the Australian 4x100m relay.
May was a colourful and vibrant competitor for Western Australia and Australia and was an automatic selection in Australian track and field teams for eight years. His bouncy, effervescent style when competing bought a new dimension to athletics at a time when it was sorely needed.
His international career began at the Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica in 1966 and concluded at those Games in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974.
May continued to serve his sport at the top level as national selector from 1977 to 1983. He was Chairman of the panel for four years from 1979.
Outside of sport, May helped build the successful Dome coffee franchise, with the first Dome coffee house established in Cottesloe in 1991.
Phil May is survived by three daughters and a grandson. His legacy and achievements to Western Australian sport will continue to be enshrined through his rightful place in the WA Sporting Hall of Champions.