Assigning a variable using dictionary instead of if/else statement [on hold]

So I have the following logic

athlete = True
#suppose that ath_name1, ath_name2 and ath_name3 are variables

if athlete == True:
    if ath_name1 == 'player1':
        footballer = True
    elif ath_name2 == 'player1':
        golfer = True
    elif ath_name3 == 'player1':
        runner = True

This works well but I was wondering if there is a more pythonic way of achieving the same using dictionary. Any help is greatly appreciated.