London 2012 Olympic ticket demand passes 20m

London's Olympic Stadium will hold 80,000 spectators

London 2012 organisers have revealed that they received applications for more than 20 million tickets from 1.8 million people for the Olympic Games.

That figure is more than three times the 6.6 million tickets available to UK sports fans for the event.

Organisers have also said more than 50% of the 645 sessions will go to a random ballot and that 95% of the applications are from the UK.

"We're thrilled with the response," said London 2012 chief Lord Coe.

Track cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, triathlon, modern pentathlon, equestrian (cross country) and both the opening and closing ceremonies were the first events to sell out.

Tickets for those sports will go to ballot, as will the majority of the sessions in swimming and tennis.

More than 2.5 million people had registered their interest in tickets before they went on sale for a six-week period starting on 15 March.

In what is the biggest ticketing exercise ever undertaken in the UK, the London Organising Committee (Locog) will now check and de-duplicate applications.

It will then run ballots across sessions which are oversubscribed and process applications.

Money will be taken from accounts from 10 May and customers will receive confirmation of which events they will receive tickets for in June.

Those who were not successful in their initial application will be given further opportunities to apply for remaining tickets in June and July as part of this process.

"Certain events have seen massive demand - for example the opening ceremony, which is more than 10 times oversubscribed - so there will understandably be disappointment and we will find a way to go back to those people with other tickets," added Lord Coe.

"What is most encouraging is that the majority of applications are for multiple tickets and for several sports, which shows that friends and family are planning to go to the Games together."