Almost 50 YEARS after Arnold Schwarzenegger won the 1969 Mr. Universe competition -- he has finally been reunited with his 1st place trophy ... after it went missing decades ago!!
The story is wild ... Arnold won the contest in London back when he was around 22 years old -- during his second year as a pro bodybuilder.
But, he gave the hardware to his mother ... who ended up giving it away to a fan without telling her son and it went missing for years!
Arnold got a tip about the trophy during a visit to a local gym in Budapest -- when the owner put him in touch with a bench press champion named Lorand Berke ... the fan who visited Arnold's mom!
Berke brought the trophy back to Arnold -- who verified it was authentic!
Now, Arnold says he's "pumped up" to get it back and promises to get Lorand a replacement trophy as a reward.
Pretty cool, right?