Answer
Jesse Owens had a minimum speed of 8.0 m/s.
Work Step by Step
We can use conservation of energy to solve this question:
$E_1 = E_2$
$KE_1 + PE_1 = KE_2 + PE_2$
$\frac{1}{2}mv_1^2 + 0 = \frac{1}{2}mv_2^2 + mgy$
$\frac{1}{2}v_1^2 = \frac{1}{2}v_2^2 + gy$
$v_1 = \sqrt{v_2^2 + 2gy}$
$v_1 = \sqrt{(6.5 ~m/s)^2 + (2)(9.80 ~m/s^2)(1.1 ~m)}$
$v_1 = 8.0~m/s$
Jesse Owens had a minimum speed of 8.0 m/s.