At the age of 18, she joined
C.S. Aeronautica Militare, the sport section of the Italian Air Force, and moved to Paris to be coached by
Daniel Levavasseur, who was training
Laura Flessel at the time. The
2008–09 season saw her climb her first
World Cup podium with a bronze medal in the Doha Grand Prix. Bronzes followed it in Tauberbischofsheim and Budapest, silver in the Montreal World Cup, and gold in the Lobnya World Cup. In the
2009 World Championships in Antalya, she was stopped in the round of 32, but in the team event, she conquered Italy's first gold in women's épée along with
Bianca Del Carretto,
Francesca Quondamcarlo and
Cristiana Cascioli. Moellhausen finished the season No.8 in world rankings, her personal best as of 2014. In the
2009–10 season, Moellhausen won a silver medal in the Rome Grand Prix. In the
World Championships at Paris, she made her way to the semi-finals, where she was defeated by
Emese Szász of Hungary and came away with the bronze medal. In the
team event Italy were overcome by Estonia in the table of 16 and could not defend their title. A string of injuries plagued Moellhausen's pre-Olympic season. In the
World Championships in Catania, she fell in the table of 32 to South Korea's
Jung Hyo-jung. In the
team event, Italy reached the semi-finals, where China defeated them. They met Germany in the small final and prevailed 45–33 to win the bronze medal. Moellhausen was selected for the
2012 Summer Olympics only as a reserve for the team. She explained that fencing for Brazil, which has no other female épée fencer in the Top 100, allows her to aim for a qualification to the
2016 Summer Olympics in
Rio de Janeiro while pursuing a professional career. She went back to training under Levavasseur and Laura Flessel. She was eliminated in the first round in her two first competitions since the 2012 Olympics, the Barcelona Grand Prix and the Rio World Cup, but she reached the quarterfinals in the Pan American Championships. In the
2014 World Championships in Kazan, she was knocked out in the first round by Italy's
Rossella Fiamingo, who would eventually win the gold medal. In the 2016 Olympics, Moellhausen reached the quarterfinals of the
épée tournament, the best Olympic result Brazil ever had at this sport. At the
2019 World Championships, Moellhausen was the only non-top-16 female épée fencer to reach the final four. She won her first two matches comfortably, beating Poland's
Renata Knapik-Miazga 15–12 in the first round and China's
Mingye Zhu 15–10 in the second. She won her round of 16 against Italy's
Alberta Santuccio. Moellhausen led throughout the match and eventually won, 15–14. After a dramatic 11-10 extra-time win over Lis Röttler-Fautsch from Luxembourg in the quarterfinals, she overcame No. 3 seed
Vivian Kong from
Hong Kong, China in the semis, 15–9. She finally won the final in extra time 13–12 against World No. 11,
Sheng Lin from
China to claim her first individual World Champion title and the first-ever medal at a
World Fencing Championship for
Brazil. Nathalie promotes fencing for students in Brazil, performing social work activities in schools and in fencing clubs. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Moellhausen has conducted virtual fencing training sessions on Instagram that have been promoted by FIE. The day of her debut at the
2024 olympics, on July 27, 2024, Moellhausen felt sick. She received immediate medical care during the competition, but was later defeated by her rival, Canadian
Ruien Xiao. It was later revealed Moellhausen had been diagnosed with a benign tumor around her lumbar region, which also was the reason for an emergency hospitalization a few days before the Olympics began that year.
Artistic and Lifestyle Nathalie took a break from fencing in 2013 when she took over as artistic director for FIE for events held in Europe. In addition to artistic endeavours, Nathalie has ventured into modeling and social media branding. She walked the catwalk for Italian dressmaker
Alberta Ferretti after winning team gold at the World Championships in 2009. Nathalie says of her work in fashion, "My idea is to develop fencing as not just a sport, but as an artistic form, like fashion." She runs a fencing-related brand called 5 Touches, which offers lifestyle services in fashion, gastronomy, fitness, home goods, and more. ==References==