2002 started with a bang for Slater when she won her second World Cup Grand Prix gold medal at the Cottbus event on the floor in Germany. The Pacific Alliance Championships soon followed and Slater helped the Australian team to a strong silver medal performance as well as picking up an individual silver medal on the floor exercise. At the Australian Championships, she finished in second place overall just behind Alex Croak, and won three of the four individual apparatus titles. This event doubled as the first selection trial for the Commonwealth Games team, and after a month-long selection camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, Slater was named in her second Commonwealth Team. As it had been in 1998, the Australian team was a mixture of youth and experience. The team entered the competition in Manchester as hot favourites to defend the title they had won four years earlier, and did not disappoint. With a near perfect performance, the Australian girls won the team title by almost four points. Slater won four individual medals and returned home as one of the most successful Australian team members. She was selected as one of three athletes to represent the whole team in being welcomed home by the Prime Minister John Howard, a great honor for the gymnast. With the 2002 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships approaching quickly, there was barely time to celebrate. Slater was selected as Australia's only representative for the event after winning five gold medals at the selection trials.