OLYMPICS:LONDON 2012 organisers said they were "thrilled" after revealing they had received applications for more than 20 million Olympics tickets during the first phase of sales.

More than half of the 650 sessions are already oversubscribed at the end of the first round of ticket sales, with track cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, triathlon and the equestrian cross country among the first sports to sell out.

After a last-minute surge in applications that caused the website to slow to a crawl and forced a last-ditch extension of the deadline early yesterday, the London organising committee (Locog) said 1.8 million people had submitted applications for the 6.6 million tickets available to the public.

Locog also confirmed anyone who had not applied for tickets in the initial 42-day phase would not get the chance to do so until much later this year. Instead, those applicants who have received none or only some of the tickets for which they bid will be offered further opportunities in June and July to apply for other events.

The opening ceremony, for which tickets range from £20.12 to £2,012, was the most popular event and was more than 10 times oversubscribed. Successful applicants will have money taken from their accounts between May 10th and June 10th and will be notified which tickets they will receive before June 24th.

That has drawn criticism from consumer groups, which claim the system tilted the scales in favour of those able to rack up a large potential bill in the hope of securing the most sought-after tickets.

Track cycling, in which Team GB won an unprecedented eight gold medals in Beijing, was always expected to be among the hottest tickets, as were the opening and closing ceremonies.

But some of the other sports to sell out are more surprising. They include rhythmic gymnastics, modern pentathlon, the cross country equestrian events in London’s Greenwich Park and the triathlon in Hyde Park. All have a committed following, a limited number of sessions and tend to be reasonably priced. Locog said that most swimming and tennis sessions had also sold out.

Locog did not reveal which sports have the most spaces remaining, though tickets for those with lots of sessions in relatively large venues will inevitably be among the most difficult to shift. They include volleyball, football, basketball and handball.

There was also criticism from some who claimed they were unable to access the site in the hours up to the midnight deadline.