Arnold Schwarzenegger has been reunited with the Mr Universe trophy he won in 1969.

Schwarzenegger won the contest in London in his early 20s during his second year as a professional bodybuilder.

The trophy went missing, however, after his mother gave it away to a fan without telling him.

Since then, the 71-year-old Austrian-born star has had a long and successful film career and served as governor of California.

But the trophy remained lost until he visited a gym in the Hungarian capital of Budapest this year and the owner put him in touch with bench press champion, Lorand Berke.


According to reports, Schwarzenegger's mother Aurelia had given the trophy to two stone-cutters who had worked on the family home.

Berke's sister bought it and gave it to him when he won the Hungarian Bench Press Championship in December last year.

An excited Berke sent photos of the trophy to his friend Adam from Budapest's Flex Gym.

But he didn't know that Adam was in California working out at a gym where he met none other than The Terminator himself.

Adam showed Schwarzenegger the photos of the trophy and confirmed it was the one that had been lost almost five decades earlier.

Berke, 38, got the chance to hand the trophy back to his hero recently, writing on social media that the cup had been "returned to the champion".

He added: "My childhood dream came true to meet him.

"Thanks to my sister for the cup and thanks to Adam for organising the meeting.

"This is one of the happiest moments in my life."

Berke said the actor had told him he was "very happy that a sportsman took care of the cup".

Schwarzenegger said: "It's great to get it back, to have a complete trophy assembly and collection of my victories."