By Karolos Grohmann

LONDON (Reuters) - The crowds and enthusiasm at the London Games have exceeded the expectations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the host nation enjoys its biggest medals haul in more than a century.

Britain has already won 24 gold medals and 51 in total with stadiums welcoming more than seven million spectators.

"The crowd and enthusiasm of the crowds exceeded my expectations," IOC president Jacques Rogge told a small group of reporters after watching the first women's boxing medals fights in front of yet another sold-out arena.

"I did not expect this response (from the British public)."

"I think these Games could leave a great human legacy. You will see a big participation in sports clubs after Sunday," he said. "We will see a surge in participation."

While tickets have been all but sold out for the public, Games organizers have been criticized for allocating too many seats to federations, Olympic officials and sponsors.

Organizers said venues and big screens around the country had attracted huge crowds, with 2.7 million attending London 2012 live sites.

On August 4, dubbed 'Super Saturday', 350,000 turned out at the live sites, and an estimated 160,000 spectators took to the streets to watch Alistair Brownlee become Britain's first triathlon champion.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)