Olympian Scott Hamilton Sold Almost Everything in His Home: 'Time to Let All That Stuff Go' (Exclusive)

The skater and wife Tracie "downsized in a big way" ahead of his annual Scott Hamilton & Friends Ice Show in Nashville on Nov. 19

Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton had a feeling someone would notice that he was selling nearly everything in his Nashville-area home.

“As soon as we announced the estate sale, TMZ reached out,” says Hamilton, 65, during an interview with PEOPLE. “I think they wanted to know if I was going bankrupt!" He laughs. "And then all these other people in the skating community reached out because they thought maybe I was sick again.”

But everyone was stone cold wrong.

“It was just time to let all that stuff go,” explains Hamilton, who just moved into his and his wife Tracie’s sixth different home since getting married in 2002. “We downsized in a big way because it's that time. We sold everything. Ninety-five percent of everything we owned, we sold.”

And in letting go of his 11,000 square feet, five bedrooms, and 7.5 bath home, the figure skating icon says he lost so much more. “I felt like a New York City building was lifted off my shoulders,” he admits.

Related: Former Olympic Figure Skater Scott Hamilton Says His New Platform Is a 'Call to Presentness'

Hamilton now finds himself making a home in his new place in "a little town on the outskirts of Nashville." “We have a little bit of land and a smaller house and we're just loving life,” says Hamilton, whose previous home is still on the market. “Time marches on.”

Loving life has always been a natural trait of Hamilton, despite going through his share of challenges throughout his semi-charmed life, including well publicized battles with cancer in 1997, 2004 and in 2016. But as of late, Hamilton says all is good in the health department.

“I'm doing really well,. I've never been this old before, so I have nothing to compare it to," he admits with a laugh. "But that's really something for someone who has gone through cancer and three brain tumors to be able to say, ‘Wow, I've never been this old before.'"

Related: Olympic Gold Medalist Scott Hamilton Reveals How Ice Skating Changed His Life Amid Mysterious Childhood Illness

And while getting older certainly played into Hamilton’s decision to downsize and clean out a bit, the legendary athlete didn’t sell everything. In fact, he kept some of his treasured artwork and pinball machines and certainly his vast collection of skating memorabilia that he has collected over the course of his star-studded career.

He also kept a few of his treasured signed guitars, with some of them being auctioned off at the 7th Annual Scott Hamilton & Friends Ice Show on Nov. 19 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The annual event will help raise money for the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation and will feature a slew of country music legends such as Trace Adkins, Deana Carter and Jo Dee Messina performing an array of their '90s country hits while also showcasing the talents of Olympic skaters such as Nathan Chen, Katia Gordeeva and David Pelletier.

“One point nine million people will be diagnosed [with cancer] this year and about 69 people an hour die in this country of cancer, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,” says Hamilton, who founded the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation in 2014. “Basically, the science is kind of way up here and the funding is still sort of way down here. And if we could just close the gap, I think miracles will just happen.”

Related: Figure Skating Champ Scott Hamilton Completes 444-Mile Bike Ride for Cancer Research 25 Years After Chemo

Heck, he’s a living miracle himself.

“I've just been trying to be healthy and avoid things that I know tumors like,” Hamilton concludes. “I’m just really trying to step into optimum health. I tell people all the time that our bodies are vulnerable, susceptible, and fragile, so my job is to put as much sand in the hourglass as I can. Last I checked, no one gets out of this thing alive. We've got our beginning, our middle, and an end. How do we live as long as we can, as healthy as we possibly can and not invite any nasty stuff in?”

Fans can purchase tickets for the Nov. 19 show here, or donate to the Scott Hamilton CARES Foundation here.

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Read the original article on People.