Nauru was represented at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester by a team consisting solely of weight-lifters.

Marcus Stephen, who became President of Nauru five years later, competed for the fourth and last time.

The 2002 Games were the first edition of the Commonwealth Games in which he failed to win a gold medal; Nauru's two golds were won by Reanna Solomon.

The 2002 Games marked Nauru's fourth participation in the Commonwealth Games, and the small country achieved by far its best result to date, with fifteen medals.

Female athletes won ten of Nauru's fifteen medals, including its two gold.