Competing in two Summer Olympics, she won four medals with three golds (1988: K-2 500 m, K-4 500 m; 1992: K-2 500 m) and one silver (1992: K-4 500 m).
Nothangel also won eight gold medals at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships with four in the K-2 500 m (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991) and four in the K-4 500 m (1987, 1989, 1990, 1991) events.
Nothnagel married between the 1989 and 1990 seasons and from 1990, she competed under her married name.