diff --git a/evalharness/cli.py b/evalharness/cli.py
index 91ed8fc..e573988 100644
--- a/evalharness/cli.py
+++ b/evalharness/cli.py
@@ -478,7 +478,11 @@ def _cmd_eval_run(args) -> int:
             _print_phase(console, i + 1, total_runs, name,
                          'loading/downloading dataset')
             ds = get_dataset(name, **overrides)
+            if _shared_reporter is not None:
+                _shared_reporter.pause()   # let hub tqdm print cleanly
             sample_count = len(ds)
+            if _shared_reporter is not None:
+                _shared_reporter.resume()
             origin = ds.lineage.get('from', 'unknown')
             _print_phase(console, i + 1, total_runs, name,
                          f'dataset ready · samples={sample_count} · source={origin}')
diff --git a/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py b/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py
index 006661d..52f0a49 100644
--- a/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py
+++ b/evalharness/progress/rich_terminal.py
@@ -151,6 +151,16 @@ class RichTerminalProgress:
         else:
             self.console.print(message)
 
+    def pause(self):
+        """Temporarily stop the live display (e.g. while hub downloads print
+        their own tqdm); task state is kept and resume() restores the bars."""
+        if self.task_id is not None or self.overall_id is not None:
+            self.progress.stop()
+
+    def resume(self):
+        if self.task_id is not None or self.overall_id is not None:
+            self.progress.start()
+
     def close(self):
         if self.task_id is not None:
             if self.heartbeat_task is not None: