Prime Minister David Cameron has thanked Sir Chris Hoy for his unexpected role in helping deliver the Queen's message at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.

Cameron took in the men's track sprint qualifying on day one of the Games in Glasgow, which takes place in the velodrome named after Great Britain's most decorated Olympian.

Having had a starring role in Wednesday's ceremony at Celtic Park, Hoy stepped in to assist Prince Imran of Malaysia as he struggled to open the baton that contained Her Majesty's address.

And he won praise from the PM, who told Press Association Sport: "I thought Sir Chris did brilliantly last night. Without him we probably wouldn't have got the Queen's message out of the baton.

"He may be retired, but he still has his uses!"

Cameron, who is on a brief stopover at the Games before returning to Westminster business, is supporting all the home nations at the competition and expects it to be a big success.

"I'm a firm believer that as a Cameron who lives in England with a Welsh grandmother, who's probably got a bit of Irish blood in there somewhere, I can support all the home nations," he said.

"I'll be back for the end of the Games, certainly, but there's quite a lot of other stuff going on right now.

"But this has been a great opening. The atmosphere is brilliant, and the organisation is a credit to everyone involved. It seems to be a very slick operation."