The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of active (AR) versus passive recovery (PR) on muscle deoxygenation during short repeated maximal running. Ten male team sport athletes (26.9+/-3.7y) performed 6 repeated maximal 4-s sprints interspersed with 21 s of either AR (2 m.s (-1)) or PR (standing) on a non-motorized treadmill. Mean running speed (AvSp (mean)), percentage speed decrement (Sp%Dec), oxygen uptake (V O (2)), deoxyhemoglobin (HHb) and blood lactate ([La] (b)) were computed for each recovery condition. Compared to PR, AvSp (mean) was lower (3.79+/-0.28 vs. 4.09+/-0.32m.s (-1); P<0.001) and Sp%Dec higher (7.2+/-3.7 vs. 3.2+/-0.1.3%; P<0.001) for AR. Mean V O (2) (3.64+/-0.44 vs. 2.91+/-0.47L.min (-1), P<0.001), HHb (94.4+/-16.8 vs. 83.4+/-4.8% of HHb during the first sprint, P=0.02) and [La] (b) (13.5+/-2.5 vs. 12.7+/-2.2 mmol.l (-1), P=0.03) were significantly higher during AR compared to PR. In conclusion, during run-based repeated sprinting, AR was associated with reduced repeated sprint ability and higher muscle deoxygenation.