Diagnosed With a Brain Tumor: Alexandr Nosek races at the World Championships Two Years Later

His first shot at a dryland mushing World Championship ended before it began. Diagnosed with a brain tumor just two weeks before the event, Czech athlete Alexandr Nosek spent the next two years adapting, recovering, and holding on to what mattered. This year, he returned to the bikejoring’s world stage against all odds.

A sudden halt, just before the start

In late 2023, Alexandr Nosek, then 38, was preparing for his first international bikejoring race, the IFSS World Championships in Olvega, Spain. His training had been solid, his dogs were in shape, but at a local weekend race just two weeks before departure, something felt off.

“I felt a sudden weakness in my right leg,” he recalls. “Driving home, I couldn’t properly hit the pedals. Even walking stairs was a struggle.”

Within days, the situation escalated: headaches, blurred vision, and motor issues on the right side of his body. An MRI scan revealed a 5-centimeter brain tumor.

A week later, he underwent surgery. Most of the tumor was removed, but a portion too close to key motor pathways had to be left untouched. The final diagnosis confirmed a high-grade astrocytoma, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor.

The prognosis narrowed from a general 10-year survival estimate to just 2 years.
Instead of standing at the start line in Spain, Alex watched the championship from his couch, surgery scar still fresh. “It was a very tough moment,” he said.

"If I stopped moving, things would go downhill fast"

Despite the uncertainty and the physical toll of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, Alex stayed consistent in one area: movement.

“I tried to walk my usual 4-kilometer circuit every day with my two dogs, Loki and Charlie. It was clear to me that if I stopped moving, things would go downhill fast.”

Except that this time it wasn’t about training or ambition, but about routine, discipline, and not letting the ground slip out from under his feet. As a doctor, Alex knew the limitations of the standard treatment path, so he began studying intensively, reaching out to experts, and forming a plan that blended traditional and alternative strategies: repurposed drugs, hyperbaric oxygen, fasting, diet changes, and consistent exercise.

A vaccine made possible by the community

One of the most promising treatment avenues led him to Germany, where a clinic runs a personalized immunotherapy program using a vaccine developed from the genetic profile of the patient’s tumor.

Because this program isn’t covered by public insurance, Alex’s sister launched a fundraiser. The mushing community rallied instantly, and within just two days, the full 80,000 € needed to cover the treatment was raised. The tumor sample was sent for sequencing, and in the months that followed, Alex began receiving the tailored vaccine every eight weeks.

The unexpected return to racing

“I thought my mushing days were over for good,” reflects Alex about what he had started with his dogs before everything changed. But a week after his fifth round of chemotherapy, a canicross obstacle race in support of children with brain gliomas came up. He gave it a shot - and, to his own surprise, won.

That experience opened the door again. He raced in a summer relay with friends, and the spark for greater goals returned.

Later that year, still undergoing treatment and just about a year after his diagnosis, Alex received a wildcard to the World Championships in Bardonecchia, Italy. He finished 8th , despite irregular training, and that was all he needed to prove to himself that elite competition still had a place in his life.

For 2025, he didn’t want shortcuts and committed to all the qualifying stages.

Racing with pain you can’t see

Bikejoring at this level demands more than fitness, it’s about timing, focus, coordination and full trust between athlete and dog. For Alex, it also means adapting to a body that doesn’t always cooperate.

“I suffer from repeated episodes of fatigue, frequent headaches, an occasional feeling of imbalance, and minor difficulties with short-term memory,” he explains. “But what limits me more… is the permanent neuropathic chronic pain in my right lower limb… and the loss of proprioception in the joints from the knee down.”

None of it shows at the start line. From the outside, the posture looks sharp, Loki is ready to give it all. But pain and misfiring nerves are a constant part of the equation, not a barrier, but a reality that reshapes every movement.

Earning his spot despite everything

The road to the 2025 ICF World Championships came with new challenges. Around the same time, Alex’s father, his partner in their medical clinic, was also diagnosed with cancer. Alex returned to full-time work, dealing with a different reality.

“Because of neuropathic pain and being unable to sit, I stand at work, often barefoot because sometimes the pain makes it impossible to tolerate shoes.”

Then, just before his second qualifying race, he broke a rib. It could’ve been the end of that season, but the chance to compete for a world title on home soil was too important to pass up. He raced anyway. And he qualified.

Back on the start line two years later

Two years after his diagnosis, to the exact day, Alex places his foot on the pedal, bib pinned to his jersey, and Loki focused in front of the bike. They're back at the start line, in his home country, at the ICF World Championships in Pardubice, Czech Republic.

They finished 11th in the men’s masters bikejoring category, reaching a goal that had kept him grounded through a long stretch of uncertainty. “Focusing intensely on the event helped me momentarily forget my worries about the future,” he said.

Still moving forward

Alex will receive his 14th and final dose of the personalized vaccine this December. Now that the championship is over, new questions arise about which path to follow.

At the same time, life goes on. He’s a doctor, a racer, and a father to a one-year-old daughter. And while the future holds no guarantees, one thing remains clear: he's still moving forward.

Follow Alex’s journey on Instagram: @keson.a
Learn more about the sport that helped carry him to the start line: What is bikejoring?