A gold and silver on the track adds to the two bronzes Sweden had already won at these championships, and sees them climb up the medal table to eighth place.
2025 World Championships bronze medallist Almgren had had enough of the pedestrian start to the men's 10,000m final, ramping the pace up around the 1500m mark and stretching the field out to single file with another kilomtre gone.
The Swede kept pushing from the front, and by the halway mark, only Mike Foppen of the Netherlands, Yemaneberhan Crippa of Italy, France's Jimmy Gressier, and reigning European champion Dominic Lobalu of Switzerland were still hanging on to his coat tails.
Even with a long way to go, it was clear the medals were between these five, though the five became four at 6000m when Foppen bowed out the moment he started to struggle. Almgren continued to look unstoppable, not letting up as Gressier and Crippa started to lose touch.
With 3000m to go, the 31-year-old was out on his own, putting 10m between himself and Lobalu. That gap only grew, as Almgren used lapped runners as milestones to pass en route to victory.
Almgren then carried a huge group of lapped athletes around the penultimate kilometre as his pace finally dipped, with Lobalu still 15 seconds down. Coming down the home straight, the Swede was surrounded by other athletes, but out on his own in the race, and he crossed the line to win gold in 27:23.50 and beat the championship record that has stood since 1978.
Lobalu finished second in 27:42.67, as Gressier sprinted away from Crippa to take bronze in 28:07.90.
Pihlstrom takes silver with storming finish
With the third-best time in the heats, Samuel Pihlstrom had ambitions of also leaving Birmingham with a medal around his neck, as he was next up in the 1500m final. Fourth in the world indoor championships this year, the Swede settled in at the back having started on the outside, and he continued to late the quick race develop in front of him over the first two laps.
With 800m gone, Pihlstrom moved out into lane three to work his way through the bunch, but having moved onto the shoulders of the leaders, he found himself at the back again with 500m to go. As the bell sounded, the 25-year-old looked out of it as Jake Heyward and Jake Wightman of Great Britain pushed hard from the front.
But with 100m to go, Pihlstrom launched his sprint finish, passing tiring runners as Dutchman Stefan Nilessen hit the front. Pihlstrom and Ireland's Andrew Coscoran passed the Brits, but it was Nilessen's gold in a time of 3:35.70, as the Swede beat the Irishman on the line for silver in 3:36.16.
Sixth for Ekman in high jump final
Qualifying with five clear jumps out of five and a best height of 1.91m was perfect preparation for Louise Ekman - Sweden's third finalist of the evening - as she went in the women's high jump. She began the final in the same form, clearing 1.83m before getting over 1.88m by the narrowest of margins, as the shaking bar stayed in place.
But as it turned out, 1.91m was her limit, as once she finally had a first failure in Birmingham at 1.92m, another two followed immediately. Only with the second of the three attempts did she come close to a clearance, and her competition was over.
Nonetheless, the 29-year-old had still done enough to finish sixth, as Ukrainian world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh added another gold to her tally, clearing 1.97m
Karlstrom finishes fourth in marathon walk
Sweden narrowly missed out on another medal early on Saturday morning, as the marathon race walk made its European Championships debut on the streets of Birmingham. Hungary's Bence Venyercsan was on course for bronze when he was sent to the penalty box late on, and though Perseus Karlstrom was able to pass him and move into fourth, he was unable to overtake Aurelien Quinion of France.
A sub-three hour time was required to take a medal, as Quinion finished in 2:59:29, clear of Karlstrom's 3:00:18. Massimo Stano of Italy won gold in 2:56:49, beating Spain's Miguel Angel Lopez by just eight seconds.
Warff improves as Karlsson falls on heptathlon day two
After Friday's opening day of the heptathlon, Lovisa Karlsson and Erika Warff were lying 14th and 20th overall, respectively. Day two began with the long jump, and after a foul with her first attempt, Karlsson hampered her second jump of 6.08m by taking off 28.1cm before the foul line. That remained her best effort, putting her 15th in the long jump but staying 14th overall. Warff moved up a place to 19th overall after a best jump of 5.95m.
The heptathlon morning concluded with the javelin, which Warff began with a 47.14m throw, and though she wasn't able to improve on that, it was enough for a fourth-placed finish and 805 more points. Karlsson's best of 38.89m was the 19th best, worth 646 more to her score. That saw Warff go above her compatriot for the first time in the competition, with the Swedes sitting in 15th and 16th places, respectively.
In the evening, as Ireland's Kate O'Connor took gold ahead of Dutch pair Emma Oosterwegel and Sofie Dokter, neither Karlsson nor Warff troubled the leaders in the 800m. Karlsson's 2:20.23 was the 16th-best time, with Warff in 19th after a 2:23.46 run.
Those runs took Karlsson back ahead of her teammate to finish two days of competition in 16th place with 6023 points in total, with Warff back in 17th, also crossing the 6000-point mark, with 6012.
Two Swedes qualify for long jump final
Having reached the women's triple jump final earlier in the week, Maja Askag returned for the long jump, beginning qualification with a legal jump of 6.55m, below the automatic qualifying distance of 6.80m, before improving to 6.66m. Following two fouls, Ayla Hallberg Hossain was staring down the barrel of no mark in qualification, but she delivered under pressure in the third round with a 6.66m jump to go level with Askag.
The duo finished in ninth and 10th, respectively and qualified for the final on Sunday 16th. However, Hallberg Hossain suffered a thigh injury on her last jump and is unsure whether or not she will be fit for the final. With a best jump of 6.47m, Sweden's third competitor, Tilde Johansson, did not qualify for the next stage.
No luck in 1500m or relay
None of Sweden's three entrants in the women's 1500m were able to qualify for the final. In the first heat, Mia Barnett was unable to stay with the leaders when the pace picked up at the bell, finishing 11th of 15 in a time of 4:14.01. In the second, Wilma Nielsen was still amongst the pack in the final lap, but didn't have the sprint finish to take a top-six place, finishing ninth in 4:10.50. Carmen Cernjul, meanwhile, was cut adrift with around 300m to go, eventually crossing the line 13th of 14 in 4:13.00.
Filip Olsson, Linus Pihl, Zion Eriksson and Jean-Christian Zirignon lined up on the inside in the second heat of the men's 4x100m relay, and despite a smooth run they were unable to close in on their opponents, finishing seventh ahead of a disqualified Finland in 39.71, 1.21 seconds down on winners Italy.